Here’s some ideas for classroom activities

Use the YTS profiles (online or download the pdf versions)
to explore some of the following topics:

Brainstorm
What does it mean to be a scientist?
Where do scientists work?
What personal qualities do you need to be a scientist?
What skills do scientists need?

Choose a Young Tassie Scientist
What are they studying?
Why does their work interest them or why do they consider it important?
What are the connections between their work and real life problems?
How is their work relevant to daily life and /or your life in the future?
Try showing this through a collage of images.

Science in the News
Collect science related articles from the newspaper for a week. Group them into categories – can you find any common themes? Does the work of any of the Young Tassie Scientists match these themes? Write a newspaper article about one of the Young Tassie Scientist’s research. Why would people want to read your article? If you were going to interview a Young Tassie Scientist on radio, who would you interview and what questions would you ask them? If you were a scientist, would you want to work in any of the same areas as the Young Tassie Scientists? Which ones and why? What other areas could you work in? What famous discovery would you want to make, and why?

Science in Australia
Can you name any famous Australian scientists? Is science important to Australia – why or why not? You could hold a class debate. Should we have more awards, like the Logies, to recognise the achievements of Australian scientists? If you had to award a prize to the best Young Tassie Scientist, what criteria would you use? Should you consider the benefits of the research, how much it cost, whether it could be used for other purposes? Should you consider the appearance of the scientist? What would the prize be? Which Young Tassie Scientist would you choose? Who would your class choose?

The Young Tassie Scientist program supports the Science as a Human Endeavour strand of the Tasmanian Science Curriculum, which includes the following ideas: Scientists work, think, inquire and know in particular ways. Applications of science have changes and shaped the world. Applications of science have systems impacts.

For More on Science Careers

Science, Engineering & Technology at UTAS
Explore your future options at UTAS - check out the careers selector, linking Year 11 and 12 subjects, university studies and careers. www.utas.edu.au/set

ACE Day Jobs Ace day jobs
is a series of five minute video episodes of Australians with innovative careers. Each episode provides an insight into aerospace engineering, forensic anatomy, science reporting, and many more careers where people are living out their dreams in their work. www.abc.net.au/acedayjobs/

SCOPE Profiles Read about some of the amazing people who have appeared on SCOPE TV. Their jobs range from forensic palynologist to skateboard designer, but all involve science or technology in some form. www.csiro.au/ scope/profiles.htm

Smart Moves
Questacon Smart Moves is a travelling Outreach program promoting cutting edge research, new ideas and entrepreneurship in science, engineering and technology. smartmoves.questacon.edu.au

Fresh Science
This national competition identifies new and interesting research being done by early-career scientists around the country. www.scienceinpublic.com/sciencenow/

Careers in Science
Explains how undertaking subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics in Years 11 and 12 can help broaden future choices for university subjects and careers. www.careersinscience.gov.au