Activity

Energy Career Excursion

Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12

Subjects: Career Connected Learning, Science

Overview

This activity aims to help students become acquainted with careers that exist in the energy industry.

A baseline list of careers is provided. Students can be assigned a career or select a career from the list, and research and prepare one of the suggested formats to display information about the career chosen. Ultimately, students should share their findings with each other as a museum walk, in classroom presentations, through a class website, or even through game play, so that students can become acquainted with types of careers available in the energy industry, similarities to other industries/crossover, skills sets required, even how quickly they can expect to make their first million (wishful thinking).

NB Curricular Connections

Science 6-8

Strand: Learning and Living Sustainably – Big Idea: Responsible and Sustainable Application- Skill Descriptor: Apply scientific and technological knowledge and an understanding of sustainable practices responsibly with respect to natural and technical sensory systems.

Science 9-12

Strand: Learning and Living Sustainably – Big Idea: Responsible Application and Sustainable Practices – Skill Descriptor: Investigate Careers in Science

What You’ll Need

Electronic device with internet access
Copies of handouts from energy careers excursion, as needed
Art supplies (optional)

Instructions

Preview the list of careers and the procedure. Decide if you will pre-assign or allow students to select their own careers.
Preview additional careers on the Centre of Excellence website.
Look over the activity suggestions and prepare copies or digital access for the selected item(s). The trading card is the least robust item, while the résumé and the LinkedIn™ template are more detailed. Decide if you will adapt or add to the requirements. If you prefer students to complete the activity digitally, set up the templates for them to be able to complete and submit their work online.
Prepare a list/add to the list of sites students can access for their research.
Gather examples of trading cards, résumés, and LinkedIn™ profiles that might help students to complete their work.

Procedure

As an introduction to careers in energy and science, ask students what they think of when they hear “scientist.” Have students do a quick drawing/scene or write a descriptive paragraph to showcase what a scientist might look like, might act like, might do each day, and where they might work. Have students show their drawings to each other or read their passages. Are there any similarities or differences? Are there any stereotypes that might have crept in? Make it a point to address these stereotypes or areas where gaps in gender, age, and race might exist. Ask students how adding more diversity to a workplace could improve it. Provide examples where you might be able to. Ask students what characteristics of a job or workplace might be desirable or undesirable.
Show students the Energy Industry Career List. Explain that, as a part of your energy unit, students will each explore a different career in the energy industry, a very important STEM field, to show students what options might be possible for their future in this constantly changing industry.
Depending on the age and abilities of your students, you may opt to just cut students loose to peruse the list and pick a career they have an interest in. You may also opt to discuss the list and how it is broken down. For younger students, it may be helpful to help them select or pre-select a career.
Explain to the students that they will be researching their career and creating some form of career-oriented handout or digital design to show off their research and explain their career to the class.
Show the class the templates in the attached document and give instructions for using research to fill in the template of your choosing, be it the networking template, résumé, or trading card. You may opt to allow students to complete their choice of template. They may need to be creative and make a character who might work in that field, or they may use their own name and personality. Explain how students will showcase their work when complete, and when their work must be submitted.
As necessary, explain to students that résumés are used to market yourself to employers and let them know, without meeting you, what you might be able to accomplish. Explain that LinkedIn™ is an example of an internet networking tool that allows workers to show off what they’ve done, connect them with others in their industries and beyond, and that it can often help place them into new or advanced positions.
Give the class time to present or explore each other’s work and learn about the various careers in the energy industry. Conduct a class discussion about the similarities and differences between jobs in the field, in the office, and in both settings, and how these jobs might compare to similar jobs in other industries. Ask students to write about the career they might be most interested in based on what they’ve learned from their classmates.

Global Competencies

The Global Competencies are the skills, sets of knowledges, and attitudes of a well-rounded person. They cross disciplines and contexts, and enable a person to thrive in local, virtual, and global communities.