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Summary

• Students will learn about career options by reviewing career profiles.
• Students will relate topics being studied in the classroom with applications in the workplace.
• Students will recognize that skills developed in the classroom are applicable and used in the workplace.

Setting the Stage

Students may have a very narrow view of the types of careers available to them. The types of careers/jobs in which they see adults engaged informs their view. This information may come from TV shows, movies or real life experience with working adults (e.g., a visit to the dentist, a contractor hired to do work at their home, what their parents do). The less exposure young people have to the world of work, and workers in general, the more limited their view will be. To ensure students have the broadest perspective on careers available to them, they should be exposed to as many potential careers as possible. 

Materials & Preparation

• Computer, tablet or other device with access the Internet and the Let’s Talk Science Careers section
• Arrange for computer and internet access for students 
• Download the Instagram Template [Google Slides] [pptx] [PDF] - provide as a paper copy or e-copy, 1 per student. Note: This Instagram Template by Cynthia Nixon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
• Download the Instagram It Instructions Reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - provide as a paper copy or e-copy, 1 per student.
• Download the Instagram It Student Reflection Reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - provide as a paper copy or e-copy, 1 per student.
• Download the Instagram It Summative Assessment Rubric [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - provide as a paper copy or e-copy, 1 per student.

What To Do

• To begin this lesson, teachers could engage students in a Think-Pair-Share activity. Teachers should ask students to think about their definition of a career, what types of careers they are aware of, and their thoughts on the type of career that interests them. After they share with a partner, the teacher should debrief these questions with the entire class.
• Next, students should be directed to the Let’s Talk Science career resource website.
• Using the filtering tool, students should search for careers that are of interest to them. They can do this by filtering by school subjects they enjoy, career sectors in which they are interested, or post-secondary pathways that they may want to follow. The more filters applied, the smaller the list of profiles they will find.
• Once the students have reviewed their list, they will pick one profile that is of interest to them. Using their selected profile, students will use the Instagram template to create an Instagram post to highlight this career.
• If students are not familiar with the Instagram platform, review the main components of an Instagram post (i.e., image, hashtags, description).

• After they have completed their Instagram template, students could answer the following questions as they reflect and consolidate information about their chosen career. These questions are also available on the Instagram It Student Reflection Reproducible.
  1. Which career did you find the most interesting? Could you see yourself doing this type of work? Explain. 
  2. Without considering salary, what would be the features of your ideal career?
  3. Which career interested you the most? What other school subjects would be necessary to get into this career?
  4. Do you think there are personality traits associated with certain careers? Do you see these traits in any of the individuals in these profiles? Do you have these traits? Explain.

• To extend and further consolidate students' thinking, teachers could organize students into groups where the careers are similar or from the same sector. In their group, students could share their completed Instagram template. They could use the reflection questions to stimulate discussion and sharing. Next, teachers could form new groups where each student has a different career to share.
• Students who have an Instagram account could actually post their career information to their account. Students could take a screenshot of their work and send the picture of it to their teacher for assessment.
• To conclude this lesson, teachers could lead a class discussion using the reflection questions.

Let’s Talk Science appreciates the work and contributions of Maria Nickel, École Stonewall Centennial School, Manitoba Interlake School Division in the development of this lesson.