Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
This pack has been produced to support schools in raising awareness of STEM
careers. The activities vary from online games to fully fledged lesson plans and their
associated resources. The audience and ideal delivery time for each of the activities
is listed below, but these are only suggestions and intended as a guide.
PTO…
The Top 10 Careers* Page 10 Year 10
(suitable for other years)
*An order form for the Top Trumps style Top Careers can be found on page 21
- these cards can be used as part of the Top 10 Careers activity on page 10
Timeline: Anytime
An Introduction to STEM Careers
Learning objectives:
Students will understand what STEM stands for, be able to give examples of jobs in
each of the STEM areas and recognise the links between these jobs and everyday
life. Students will also be able to say which undergraduate courses produce higher
life time earnings.
Resources needed:
A blank piece of paper for every student, pens, A3 pieces of paper, lifetime earnings
chart (which can be found at the bottom of this lesson plan)
Activity overview:
After learning what STEM stands for, the students will list jobs in an area that
interests them and share their ideas. They will then generate more career and job
titles by thinking about their everyday life. Finally, they will have to decide which
jobs/degrees result in higher average lifetime earnings.
How many new sites have been nominated to host nuclear power
stations?
A: 11
Resources needed:
Fact cards, questions relating to fact cards, someone to keep score of who has
answered the questions, some sort of prize (e.g. a pen, chocolate bar). These
resources are available at the end of the STEM enrichment pack.
Activity overview:
Each student is given a card containing one or two facts about a STEM career. The
facilitator asks a question, the answer to which is on one of the cards. Once the
question has been answered the students swaps cards with their neighbour and this
process continues until all the questions have been asked.
2-4 Ask your students to stand or sit in a circle. They need to be close Students
enough to each other to pass a piece of paper from one to the other. move into a
circle.
4-6 Let the students know that you will be giving each of them a card Students
containing one or two facts about a STEM career or places to find listen.
more information. You will then ask them questions – the answer to
each of the questions is on one of those cards. As soon as you have
asked a question if someone has the answer on their card or they
know the answer from previous experience they need to put up their
hand. If they answer the question correctly you (or your assistant) will
make a note of that. The person at the end of the session with the
most amount of correct answers will win a prize.
Once a question has been answered correctly, the students will need
to pass their card on to the next person in the circle. The cards should
move in a clockwise direction. That way every one will have the
chance to see the answers to the questions.
6-25 Read out questions, make a note of who answers correctly and ensure Students
that the cards move around the circle correctly. Once the cards do read the
move, give the students a moment to read what is written on theirs. cards,
answer
questions
and pass on
the cards.
25-30 Announce the winner of the session and ask them to recap some of Students
the answers, include other pupils from the session as appropriate. identify the
Particularly emphasise the websites with more information – if you areas they
have time and access get students to look at these websites. selected and
get in to
groups
accordingly.
Texas Instrument Equipment
A: Homer Simpson
What is the nuclear fuel cycle and why are people involved in this
process in the UK in demand in other countries?
A: The nuclear fuel cycle is where uranium is made into fuel, used in
the power station to produce electricity and then recycled or
disposed. The skills of people employed by UK nuclear power
companies is demand to support other companies in developing
their own nuclear power infrastructure.
There will be a big demand for people with the right skills and
qualifications to fill an increasing number of jobs in the nuclear
industry – why is that?
A: Large numbers of people will be retiring from this industry in the
next 15 years and 11 new power plants will potentially open up.
What sort of jobs are available in the nuclear industry (looking for
4 answers)?
A: Design & construction of new power stations, processing and
manufacturing nuclear fuel, maintaining nuclear powered
Resources needed:
Top 10 careers cards + answers, qualifications and levels post card. These
resources are available at the end of the STEM enrichment pack.
Activity overview:
Using the top 10 careers cards, students will arrange the careers in order of highest
average salary, highest qualifications required and their preference. As an extension,
students can create their own cards using information from the future morph website
or the Top Trumps Careers cards.
2-3 Depending on the space in which you are delivering this session,
either lay the cards on the floor and ask the students to work
together to arrange them in order of highest average end salary Students listen.
or lay them on a table, ask the students to read the cards and
then write down for themselves the highest average end salary.
3-15 Assist students in arranging themselves in a line with the cards or Students either
manage their movement from the table to their desks. The arrange themselves
answers to the questions about average highest end salary and in a line or write down
highest qualification can be found at the end of the top 10 careers the order on a piece
cards pack. Use the qualifications and levels post card to aid of paper. As the
students’ understanding. Feed back the answers to the students answers are read out,
once they have arranged themselves or written down their ideas they amend
and read them out. accordingly.
15-22
Now that students have examined the salaries and qualifications, Students write down
ask them to put these jobs in order according to which ones they their preferences
would like to do. They need to write this down with one reason about the jobs and a
next to each of the jobs as to why it is in this position. reason why for each
career.
22-30 Ask the students to feedback to each other what they have written Students feedback to
in pairs, in small groups or as a whole class. Ask them to discuss one another and
these reasons, paying attention to the competencies mentioned discuss their
on the cards and other factors. reasoning.
30-32
Explain that these are only 10 careers available in the STEM
sectors. It is up to the students to decide what is important to Students listen.
them (e.g. money, qualifications needed, competencies etc…)
and then find jobs that match these qualities.
Extension Students create their
Ask students to create their own top 10 careers using the jobs own top 10 career
featured on www.futuremorph.org and www.cogent-careers.com cards.
or the Top Careers trumps-style cards.
Selecting Student Delegates
Introduction:
4 student delegates from every year 10 form in your school will have the opportunity
to participate in the Bexley Big Noise STEM careers conference on the 6th April. The
4 delegates will each represent one of the STEM areas – science, technology,
engineering or maths.
- Complete the activity “Researching the Exhibitors” (pages 12-15 of this pack)
- Attend the STEM Careers Conference on the 6th April and fill in the document
“Making the Most of the Conference” (pages 16-17 of this pack) whilst they
are there
- Present to their peers about the conference afterwards (they can use page 18
of this pack to help them do this)
Possibility 1:
Ask students to nominate themselves as the STEM student delegates. If you have 4
volunteers, ask them to decide between them which STEM area they will represent.
If you have more than 4 students who want to be involved, ask them to deliver a
short presentation in front of their classmates about why they should be the delegate.
The class should then vote for who they want to be their representatives.
Possibility 2:
In conjunction with teachers in the STEM areas, the form tutor, the head of year etc…
decide who should represent their class. You can either designate them with a
STEM area or ask them to choose for themselves.
Possibility 3:
Put all of the names of the students in the class into a hat. Pull out 4 names and ask
if they would like to be involved in the Bexley Big Noise STEM Careers Conference.
Keep going until you have 4 students who want to be involved. Once you have the 4,
ask them to decide which STEM area they would like to represent.
Possibility 4:
Ask students to nominate each other for the delegate position. Explain what is
involved and what a great opportunity it is; then ask the pupils to nominate who they
think should take up each of the STEM delegate places. Ask them to write down
each of the STEM areas, a name for the person who they think will be best for the
delegate role and a reason why. It’s up to you whether they can nominate
themselves or not!
Researching the Bexley Big Noise STEM Careers Conference
Introduction: As a student delegate for the Bexley Big Noise STEM Careers
Conference, your task is to research the exhibitors who will be attending the
conference and to gather questions from your fellow class members about the
companies and universities attending.
What to do now:
Go to the website for the Bexley Big Noise STEM Careers Conference:
http://webfronter.com/bexley/stem/
Click on the box entitled “Bexley Big Noise STEM 2010/11” – in there you will find a
lot of information about the careers event and some useful resources. You are
looking for the list of exhibitors and the floor plan for the conference.
Open and print the document with the exhibitors and the floor plan. You now need to
use these document, in combination with the following websites to answer the
questions below
www.futuremorph.org
www.cogent-careers.com
www.mathscareers.org.uk
1st stage:
Q: Looking at the conference exhibitors, which ones have you heard of?
Action: Write down one job that you think is associated with each of those exhibitors
Using the websites mentioned above or by searching the internet, find out one
interesting thing about each of the jobs or exhibitor you have written down (an
example could be: a graduate engineer can earn between £25,000 and £35,000).
Search the internet for those exhibitors that you have not heard of and write down a
couple of things about that exhibitor so that you can tell your classmates what that
organisation does (e.g. they are a gas and electricity company).
Your order
of Organisation Why you want to meet them &
preference questions you would like to ask them
2nd stage:
You now need to talk to the other STEM career delegates in your class. Compare
your top 5 exhibitors – which exhibitors have you chosen and why?
Because you will only have a short amount of time at the conference, you need to
make sure that you don’t cover the same ground twice. If you have the same
exhibitor on your list as someone else you need to decide who should go to it
(remember that you are representing a particular STEM area). Make sure that you
are each covering 5 exhibitors (so 20 in total).
3rd stage:
You now need to ask your other classmates for their ideas. Show them the list of
exhibitors that you downloaded from the website and explain what each of the
organisations do if your classmates don’t know.
Now it’s time to get feedback from your classmates - who else would they like you to
talk to, what questions would they like you to ask on their behalf?
Exhibitors your classmates are interested in Questions they would like you to ask
Once you have noted down the answers to these questions, liaise with your fellow
STEM delegates and ensure that you have covered the exhibitors that your
classmates are interested in. Each delegate should have a minimum of 5 exhibitors
and a maximum of 7 to visit at the conference on the 6th April.
Name
School
Exhibitors
that you are
going to be
talking to
As you move around the exhibition and speak to the people on the stands, make sure
that you complete the boxes below
Name of
person you Skills and qualifications needed to get these jobs:
spoke to:
Name of
person you
spoke to:
What are the day to day tasks of these jobs?:
Please ask your teacher to photocopy more of these sheets for you
Possibility 1:
Liaise with your fellow STEM delegates and discuss what you most enjoyed,
what you found useful and then agree who will say what. Put together a short
spoken presentation and deliver it to your class mates in form time, during a
PSHE lesson or in a STEM subject lesson (get agreement from your teacher
first). The presentation could make use of resources that you collected on the
day and the information you noted down on the “Making the Most of Your
Conference” document.
Possibility 2:
Liaise with your fellow STEM delegates as above, but instead of presenting
the information to your peers by standing in front of them, put forward the
information in a written format. You could create a newsletter, a leaflet or a
written report depending on what you think will be most useful.
Possibility 3:
Liaise with your fellow STEM delegates as above then create a poster
displaying all of the things that you learnt during the event. You could perhaps
have a different part of the poster for each of the STEM areas and list
websites where you can find more information. You could then get the poster
photocopied and give them to your classmates for them to take home or
present the poster to your peers; explain why you have included each of the
things and give a little bit more detail about each of the items.
Possibility 4:
Instead of discussing the event with your fellow STEM delegates beforehand,
ask your class mates to interview you. Because your peers did not attend the
event themselves, you might need to give them a list of questions to ask you
(e.g. which career had the highest salary, which job would you be really
interested in doing when you are older etc…). Your classmates could then
produce a report about what you told them and find out further information for
themselves by going on to the websites you suggest, or they might take one
of the careers that you spoke about and do a profile on it e.g. what the job
actually involves, what skills and qualifications you need, what the salary is
like, are there any additional benefits etc…
Booking a STEM Ambassador
STEM AMBASSADOR REQUEST FORM
Thank you for your request for a Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassador. Please complete the table below and send to
katharine.montgomery@stemnet.org.uk or call 020 3206 0479 for further
Please mark the box to confirm you have read and understood the
terms above.
information.
School name, address and
borough
Date & time of activity (or
possible dates/range of
dates)
Location of activity
Description of activity
(Please state format required e.g.
presentation, practical, judging,
mentoring and any other
additional information)
Specific Ambassador
background request (eg.
Mechanical Engineer, Analyst,
Research Scientist etc)
Number of Ambassadors
required
Will the Ambassador be a role
model for a specific group of
students? (G&T, girls, BME etc)
Age of young people and group
size
Particular course/qualification
students are studying
Name and contact details (school
number, mobile and email)
for the person requesting
the Ambassador
How did you hear about the
STEM Ambassadors programme?
Where can you find more information about the Nuclear Industry?
A: Nuclear Decommissioning Agency: www.nda.gov.uk
Where can you find more information about the jobs in the
nuclear industry?
A: www.cogent-careers.com this shows all of the roles in the nuclear
industry, the salaries and their day to day duties.