CareerStart
CareerStart is a program that aims to help students make connections between the academic curriculum and future careers, created by a partnership among the Schools of Education and Social Work at UNC - Chapel Hill, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school district, and the Piedmont Triad Council of Government.
CareerStart offers collections of lessons in which core subjects (English language arts, math, science, and social studies) are taught using illustrations from real jobs, enabling students to understand how course content is applied outside the classroom. Through a partnership with LEARN NC, CareerStart has made these mini-lessons available via the LEARN NC website.
For an article that more thoroughly describes the program and shares some of the research that illustrates its effectiveness, see “CareerStart: A Proven Approach to Middle-School Success.”
CareerStart lesson plan collections
- CareerStart lessons: Grade 6
- This collection of lessons aligns the sixth grade curriculum in math, science, English language arts, and social studies with potential career opportunities.
- CareerStart lessons: Grade 7
- This collection of lessons aligns the seventh grade curriculum in math, science, English language arts, and social studies with potential career opportunities.
- CareerStart lessons: Grade 8
- This collection of lessons aligns the eighth grade curriculum in math, science, English language arts, and social studies with potential career opportunities.
Resources provided by CareerStart
Records 121–132 of 132 displayed: go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- Utility workers: Working with the Pythagorean theorem
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 2.7
- In this lesson plan, students use the Pythagorean theorem to solve a problem relevant to the careers of utility workers.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8–9 Mathematics)
- By Debbie Brooks, Peggy Dickey, and Jan Sullivan.
- Watching the weather
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 3.5
- In this lesson for grade seven, students discuss the work that meteorologists do and brainstorm ways to collect data about the weather without using instruments. Students collect weather data over a two-week period.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science)
- By Emma Couch.Adapted by Mitzi Talbert.
- Wheelin' fun
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 3.6
- In this lesson for grade seven, students participate in a car-racing lab, and make observations about how design affects speed. Students discuss how the lab applies to careers in motor sports.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and Science)
- By Emma Couch.Adapted by Michelle Arias.
- When will I ever use this in real life?
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 1.8
- In this lesson for grade seven, students research careers and determine how people with these occupations use English, math, and science skills.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Guidance)
- By Jen Presley.Adapted by Kenyatta Bennett and Sonya Rexrode.
- Winter advisory: The effect of salt on the freezing point of water
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 5.9
- In this lesson, students complete a lab to help them understand the effect of salt on the freezing point of water. Students discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using salt as a de-icing and anti-icing agent on roads.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Science)
- By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow.
- Woodworkers and finishers: Working with area
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 3.6
- In this lesson, students participate in a furniture-finishing scenario in which they draw and calculate the area of a set of tabletops with different shapes.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
- By Valerie Davis, Sonya Rexrode, and Monika Vasili.
- Working with an embargo
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 6.6
- In this lesson plan, students learn about the Embargo Act of 1807 and consider how the embargo might have affected working people at the time.
- Format: lesson plan
- By Andrea Stewart, Keisha Gabriel, and Patty Grant.
- Working with matrices
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 2.8
- In this lesson, students use matrices to organize sets of data.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9 Mathematics)
- By Debbie Brooks, Peggy Dickey, and Jan Sullivan.
- Working with parabolas
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 2.3
- In this lesson, students graph a quadratic equation to find a solution to a hypothetical scenario involving event planners.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 9 Mathematics and Science)
- By Debbie Brooks, Peggy Dickey, and Jan Sullivan.
- World War I political debate
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade six, page 4.7
- In this lesson for grades six and seven, students will use their knowledge of World War I to debate whether Germany should have paid reparations following the war.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Social Studies)
- By Shea Calloway.
- Would you really buy that? Persuasive techniques in advertising
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 1.9
- In this lesson plan, students learn about the persuasive techniques used in advertising and try to identify the techniques in a variety of ads.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Guidance)
- By Andrea Fedon, Gail Frank, and Cindy Neininger.
- Writing a resumé
- In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 1.2
- In this lesson plan, students practice writing resumés and editing them with peers.
- Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Guidance)
- By Andrea Fedon, Gail Frank, and Cindy Neininger.
