A card game to introduce space careers to students
Preparation
Before starting the activity, you can introduce the related space careers to the students, explain the rules, and present the different phases of the game.
Implementation
Before starting the activity, you can introduce the related space careers to the students, explain the rules, and present the different phases of the game.
First phase: information
Students find complementary information about their new career: what did they study? How does their daily work look like? Who do they work with? What are their daily duties and responsibilities? What kind of projects are they working on? Etc.
Students should be given time to prepare. This can be done as a homework or in the classroom using internet.
Second phase: presentation
In turn, students tell about themselves and their job in the space sector. They answer questions from other students about their work but never say what their job is.
They can include their hobbies, and tell stories that may have happened while they were working. They can tell true stories or make them up. The number of questions that can be asked to one student can be limited.
Third phase: revelation
After a student was questioned, the others write down what they think the job of their colleague is, they write observations, argue, and conclude. Each of them then presents his/her conclusions to the class. Everyone discuss and chooses what career they think the student has.
The student questioned then reveal what his/her job was. After revelation, students present what they liked or not about their "new" career.
Tips
Encourage students to give complete answers when they are asked about their career: they can tell stories about their work, ask interesting questions, and bring interesting comments about the answers given by their colleagues.
Careers Cards
Geoscientist, Astrobiologist, Mathematician, Electric engineer, Mechanical engineer, Chemical engineer, Aerospace engineer, Computer engineer, Software engineer, Biologist, Atmospheric Scientist, Psychologist, Project manager, Astronaut, Astrophysicist.
Information about careers
You can find information about careers in many websites. For example,
- the European Space Agency,
- a national or university career guidance service,
- a national space agency,
- the local Space Awareness contact (check the map for more information about the national contact points)