LEARN NC

CareerStart lessons: Grade eight

5.1 Career areas of science: Vocabulary

By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow

Provided by CareerStart

Essential question: Which career paths involve the study of science?

Learning outcomes

Students will explore a variety of scientific careers by matching the correct vocabulary word with the career associated with that vocabulary term.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

Time required for lesson

Approximately 50 minutes of class time.

Pre-activities

  • Make copies of worksheet — one for each student.
  • Obtain a class set of dictionaries (medical or science dictionaries will work best) for student use. Students may also use internet dictionaries.
  • Teachers and students should be familiar with a fishbone graphic organizer. In this style of graphic organizer, the central idea is the head or backbone of the fish. Each “bone” branching off from the backbone represents a subtopic or detail, and each of those can be similarly subdivided. A template appears on the handout, and completed examples can be found under “Supplemental Resources” below.

Activities

  1. Discuss the following:
    • The suffix “ology” means “the study of…”
    • Prefixes in science that precede the suffix “ology” tell what is studied.
  2. Hand out the “Areas of Science: ‘What’s My Job?’” worksheet, and have students define the sixteen vocabulary words listed at the top.
  3. Match the correct vocabulary word with the career that best fits the vocabulary term.
  4. Discuss the terms and the careers with the class.
  5. Have students place the careers into a fishbone graphic organizer to help classify each career by its branch of scientific discipline. (Major scientific branches include: chemistry, physics, earth, life, space, ocean.) Add other careers to cover each discipline.
  6. PictoWords follow-up activity: Have each student select one career and create a picture that describes what that career studies. For example, a student who selected “ichthyologist” would create a drawing of a fish.

Extensions

  • Have your class conduct a career fair in which some or all of the careers listed on the sheet are represented. Parents make great volunteers and class speakers.
  • Work with your school’s guidance department to help students who are interested in a certain career choose the correct educational path.
  • Have the students research the education needed to pursue their career choice.

Supplemental resources

Websites

Optional resources for more information on the topics covered in this lesson

Life Works
The National Institute of Health’s Office of Science Education offers over 100 scientific career descriptions and interviews, emphasizing the importance of planning to obtain the education required for specific careers.
Careers in Science
On this webpage by Science Buddies, students can browse through over 100 careers in science and technology and find information on salary, job outlook, and degree requirements, as well as view video interviews with real scientists.
Careers in Life Sciences
The American Physiological Society hosts a page linking students to websites about careers in all areas of life science.