STEM Meets Entrepreneurship in a Changing Workforce
Videos
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Engineering, Career Skills
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by PBS
What it is
- This 6-part video series features people working in careers that produce innovative solutions to global problems concerning the environment, health, and inequality.
- The resource also includes discussion questions for each video, a vocabulary list, teaching tips, and a worksheet for students to complete as they watch the videos.
- Students will hear from an entrepreneur cleaning up the Pacific Garbage Patch, a former fisherman in New Haven working to grow kelp, an inventor in Albany working to replace things like plastic, leather, and bacon with mushrooms, an NYC architect reimagining the future of cities, game designers in Chicago using VR to reinvent physical therapy, and housing designers in Austin using 3D printing to solve the global housing crisis.
Teaching tips
Positives
- Many of the innovators interviewed offer valuable advice for students.
- Each video is short and will engage students in the topic.
Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of some of the global problems we face, such as climate change, pollution, the housing crisis, and healthcare.
- Students should understand what STEM is and how it relates to careers.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Language arts teachers can support students in vocabulary acquisition by doing a word study on the provided vocabulary words before students watch the videos.
- Teachers who are short on time can use a flipped classroom model and assign one video to groups of students and have them summarize it to the rest of the class. Students can then choose another video that sounds interesting to them to watch and complete the worksheet for.
- Science teachers can host an Innovation Fair, tasking students with envisioning solutions to problems they are passionate about.
- Guidance counselors can use these videos to introduce students to innovative careers in STEM, and help them research the steps it would take to have a career in these fields.
From the scientist review
In the provided video Boyan Slat discusses his work with The Ocean Cleanup. His work helps to clean up the large garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. The organization also reuses the plastic to make new products. Slat talks about how it takes time to find a solution to these problems, but technology and perseverance can lead to solutions. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Ready to use it?
Hosted on whyy.pbslearningmedia.org
Want this to fit your class?
Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.
