Activities

The activities on this page demonstrate ways that you can incorporate geoscience workforce skills into your courses. They have been submitted to Teach the Earth by community members.

Do you have an activity to share? Please contribute your activity.

Learning from geoscience professionals

Career reflection: Outside of class, students watch a 10-15 minute recorded interview with a recent alumnus who discusses their job, pathway to it, and any recommendations they have for current students. Students then write a brief reflection that they submit prior to class. A follow-up discussion allows students to share their reflections and make additional connections between the course and careers.

Career portfolio: This activity is an opportunity for students to document their interaction with environmental professionals with whom they interact during and after their environmental field course. Each career portfolio entry includes details about the environmental professional's career path and job characteristics.

Reflecting on careers

Assessing your Interests, Values, and Abilities to Guide Career Exploration: Not all of our interests, abilities, and values need to be part of our career, but some of them should be. This assignment will help students identify, reflect on, and prioritize characteristics of potential careers that are important to them.

Preparing for the application and interview process

Cover Letter Writing Project: Cover letters are an important part of a job application. This activity helps students learn about and draft a cover letter for a job or internship. The focus is on Earth Science students and jobs, and is integrated into a field course. The full activity includes journaling and self-reflection, peer reviews, giving and receiving feedback, group discussions, and writing.

Behavioral Interview Questions: Behavioral interview questions (such as, "What would you do in this situation?") are often used to assess applicants' skills and dispositions such as collaboration, problem solving, initiative, and flexibility. In this activity, students practice answering behavioral interview questions using the STAR (situation, task, action, results) method.

Simulating the workplace

When should we move the marina? In this assignment students use real world data to solve an applied problem in geomorphology. They use ArcGIS and time sequential aerial photography to determine when a marina on Lake Mead must be moved to avoid problems of sedimentation related to a major drawdown of the lake. Students must estimate the rate of delta progradation and come up with a timeframe for when the marina will become unusable. It is set up as a realistic consulting project, based on a project completed by the author.