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Welcome to Mars
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Classroom Activity
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Objective
To learn more about some of the scientists and engineers involved
with the Mars Rover mission and to find out how to begin identifying
and exploring career interests.
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copy of the "Who Works with the Rovers?" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
- access to print and Internet resources
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Several hundred people helped support the Mars Exploration Rover
missions. Who are some of the people that assisted in the
missions' success? How did they get from being middle and high
school students to exploring Mars? Students will think about
these questions and career interests of their own in this
activity.
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Ask students to name the kinds of careers they think are
involved with the Mars rover mission. Write their answers on the
board. Discuss the kind of team it takes to make a mission like
this work. (You may want to note to students that in addition to
the many different kinds of scientists and engineers that are
part of the Mars mission, there are also many other types of
jobs that are directly involved with or support the operation.
See Activity Answer for more information
on these careers.)
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Copy and distribute a handout to each student. Have students
read the brief biographies of four of the scientists and
engineers who were involved with the Mars Exploration Rover
mission.
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Discuss the biographies with students. What skills and interests
do students think each job requires? If students don't mention
it, point out that some of the scientists knew they wanted to
study science or engineering when they went to college while
others were pursuing other interests and eventually moved into
science or engineering.
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Tell students that determining a career is a process that
happens over time. Although some students may know what field or
career they want to enter, many will need to learn over time
what vocation they would like to pursue.
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Have students interview five people they interact with who are
involved in a career (i.e., their caregivers, siblings of their
friends, people in their neighborhoods) and have them answer the
following questions:
What does your job entail? What training, if any, does your job require? -
What job tasks do you like best? What tasks do you like
least?
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How did you choose your career? Who or what inspired you to
first consider your career?
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What did you start out doing after high school? How, if at
all, has your career path changed over time?
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If you had it to do over again, what, if anything, would you
do differently?
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What advice would you give to someone starting to think
about choosing a career?
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Assign students to teams to discuss the jobs they learned about.
Have each team choose two or three careers from its pool of
careers and share with the class what the jobs entail and what
skills are necessary for the jobs.
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Make a list on the board of each of the careers mentioned. What
did students learn about the types of jobs that are available?
What, if anything, surprised students about what they learned?
How many of the people interviewed were in the same career they
started out in after high school? Of the careers listed on the
board, which ones are of interest to students? Have each student
pick one career on the board, or one other they are interested
in, for additional research.
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Have students use print and Internet research tools to find out
more about their career choice, including what the job entails,
what education and training is needed, the kinds of
organizations that employ the position, the missions of the
organizations, the typical salary range, the demand for the job,
and where geographically the job can be found.
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To conclude, discuss what students learned in their research.
Point out to students that within many vocations there are often
varying levels of expertise needed that require different levels
of education.
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As an extension, ask students what they would like to do next to
learn more about the career choices they investigated, or other
new career choices. Students may be at different points in their
career exploration and be interested in different aspects of
career discovery. Some students may be ready to take skills,
personality, and interests tests; others may just want to find
out what careers are available in certain geographical areas;
others may want to explore how to pay for continuing education.
Design the next steps for career investigation according to
students' interests (see
Links and Books for some career
resources.) Note to students that finding a career can be a
lifelong process that is constantly refined by new experiences.
Students might think that most of the people involved in the Mars
missions are scientists and engineers. But the team needed to
successfully plan, implement, and report on a mission to Mars is
much more diverse. Among the many team members are scientists who
choose what the rovers should study, engineers who help plan and
build the rovers, computer scientists who write programs that run
the rovers, mission control specialists who launch and control the
vehicles, public relations professionals who provide accurate
information to journalists and others, education specialists who
write lesson plans, and many, many more. Scientists representing
many disciplines are involved with the mission, including such areas
as astronomy, astrobiology, atmospheric science, geochemistry,
geophysics, meteorology, and planetary geology. In addition, many
different kinds of engineers are needed, in such areas as
electrical, mechanical, aerospace, robotics, safety, systems, and
software engineering, to name a few. In addition, there are many
technicians necessary to help the scientists and engineers do their
jobs. And supporting all of these people are numerous administrative
staff who help ensure the project stays on track.
Web Sites
NOVA Web Site—Welcome to Mars
www.pbs.org/nova/mars/
In this companion Web site to the NOVA program, learn why water is
necessary for life, investigate the rovers' parts, take a visual
tour of the rovers' most revealing discoveries, design your own
parachute, and more.
America's Career InfoNet
www.acinet.org/acinet/
Presents wage and employment trends, occupational requirements, and
state-by-state labor market conditions.
The Career Key
www.careerkey.org/english/
Provides a career guidance test, ways to identify job skills, and
help on job search strategies and networking.
Engineering and Science Career Resources
www.khake.com/page53.html
Includes information such as daily activities, skill requirements,
salary and training required for a variety of science and
engineering jobs.
JobStar Central: Career Guides
jobstar.org/tools/career/career.cfm
Offers online career tests, guides to career resources in libraries,
and guidance for specific careers across many disciplines.
NASA Quest's Biography and Journal Locator
questdb.arc.nasa.gov/bio_search.htm
Choose job titles or occupations from a list and search for current
NASA biographies and journal entries from people currently doing
those jobs.
NASA's Mars Exploration Program: People
marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/people/
Provides links by state to team members involved in all Mars
missions.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
stats.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
Describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the
training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects
in a wide range of occupations.
The Princeton Review: Career
www.princetonreview.com/cte/
Includes a personality test, career quiz, information on creating a
career path, and more.
School to Careers
www.careers.iptv.org/about.cfm
Introduces students to career professionals, projects and ideas.
Books
Fellman, Wilma.
Finding a Career That Works for You.
Plantation, FL: Specialty Press, 2000.
Provides ways to match interests, aptitudes, personality, and goals
with choosing a career and provides practical tips on how to find a
job in a chosen field.
Reeves, Diane Lindsey.
Career Ideas for Kids Who Like Science.
New York: Facts on File, 1998.
Describes 15 science careers and provides advice on how to choose a
career direction.
Weiss, Jodi and Russell Kahn.
145 Things To Be When You Grow Up.
New York: Random House, 2004.
Profiles 145 professions and offers information on high school
activities, college majors, and work experience that will help
students achieve their career goals.
The "Who Works with the Rovers?" activity aligns with the following
National Science Education Standards:
Grades 5-8
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Science Standard G:
History and Nature of Science
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Science as a human endeavor:
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Women and men of various social and ethnic backgrounds—and
with diverse interests, talents, qualities, and
motivations—engage in the activities of science,
engineering, and related fields such as the health professions.
Some scientists work in teams, some work alone, but all
communicate extensively with others.
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Science requires different abilities, depending on such factors
as the field of study and type of inquiry. Science is very much
a human endeavor, and the work of science relies on basic human
qualities, such as reasoning, insight, energy, skill, and
creativity—as well as scientific habits of mind, such as
intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism, and
openness to new ideas.
Grades 9-12
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Science Standard G:
History and Nature of Science
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Science as a human endeavor
Classroom Activity Author
Developed by WGBH Educational Outreach staff.
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