Commercial Artist
1. Major concept: An individual's interest and abilities make possible a choice of occupations or hobbies.
2. What curriculum areas were incorporated into the experience? How?
a. Art-cartoon character drawn to scale
b. Math-drawing to scale involving math
c. Listening and discussion skills
3. Objectives to be met:
a. Name three possible sources for an artist's ideas.
b. Name four kinds of media he would have to have knowledge of.
c. See that art can be a hobby, or an occupation, into which energy is put and satisfaction is derived.
d. Draw a cartoon figure to scale.
4. Describe the experience:
A commercial artist visited the fifth grade class, bringing examples of some of his completed work, and also the processes by which he arrived at the finished product. He explained the various media he used, special techniques, and the origin of some of his ideas. He talked about personal satisfaction in relation to time and effort required, and self-expectation. The class asked questions. He then drew some candid sketches for the class. A movie was shown-"People Who Make Things"-depicting the interest, energy, and satisfaction of three people in their chosen fields.
5. Resource people used:
a. Commercial artist
b. Film-"People Who Make Things"
6. What concept or concepts were incorporated into the experience?
a. Individual interest and abilities make possible a choice of occupations or hobbies.
b. Increased knowledge of world of work.
c. One's work helps to determine his lifestyle.
7. Follow-up: Class chose a cartoon character and drew it to scale. This exercise involved math-the use of the ruler and figuring the specifications.
Rocketry
1. Major concept: Technology affects job availability.
2. What curriculum areas were incorporated into the experience? How?
a. Social science-research of Viking shop models and craft of other explorers
b. Science-research on flight, rocketry, the compass, stars, cur rents, gravity, earth
c. Language arts-writing of information gathered
d. Math-calculation of size, time, and distance in relation to craft used for exploration
e. Art-construction of various models
3. Objectives to be met:
a. Name two types of fuel used in rockets.
b. Name five ways man has been able to use a power (manpower, steam power, etc.) in transportation.
c. List six of the types of vehicles man has used for exploration.
d. Be able to understand that two important components of man's exploration depend upon his curiosity and imagination.
4. Preparation required (steps or discussions leading into experience):
a. Movies and books shared on the history of aviation and rocketry.
b. Study and discussion about explorations of yesterday and explorations of today (space programs, ocean environment, Antarctica). d. Located (after a number of phone calls) a qualified person to come to class to talk about rockets. d. Discussed with an army colonel our career education program and the kinds of information we are interested in.
5. Describe the experience:
a. Two students constructed a CO2 cartridge rocket.
b. Teacher explained how the rocket was powered.
c. Students demonstrated the rocket for the class.
d. Colonel came with a film and talked about U.S. guidance systems and answered questions.
6. Resource people used:
a. Military public relations man
b. Two students-in construction of rocket
7. What other concept or concepts were incorporated into the experience?
a. Studying about various explorers would involve recognizing their successes, decisions, and failures as affecting peoples' lives.
b. Studying exploration from the standpoint of the changes it effects on the way people live and the work they perform; also, following technological progress through the centuries.
c. Increasing knowledge of world of work.
8. Follow-up: Boys involved in rocket-making wrote report of their activity.
SIXTH GRADE EXPERIENCES
Cement Plant Operations
1. Major concept: Individuals differ in their interests and aptitudes, and this affects job choice.
2. What curriculum areas were incorporated into the experience? How?
a. Math-students used the slide rules, given the dimensions of an area to be laid with cement, to determine the number of yards of concrete needed.
b. Math-using the certified weight of their total weights, the children added their weights back in class to check the total, and to determine the average weight for the group.
c. Speech-language-student made oral report to class on return.
3. Objectives to be met:
a. Name four components of the concrete mixture.
b. Name two state requirements for the gravel (cleaners and specific size).
c. Describe the route of the raw sand with gravel when it is dredged up until it is taken to the plant in specific form.
d. Name two requirements for men working at the plant.
e. Name one reason why they would like the job of working at the plant.
f. Name one reason why they would not like the job at the plant.
g. Tell two ways the job contributes to society.
4. Preparation required (steps or discussions leading into experience):
a. While involved in a math unit on cubic measure, some of the class became interested in a discussion of how concrete is measured.
b. Ten students were interested in visiting a concrete plant.
c. The teacher contacted a ready-mix concrete company and discussed with the manager questions the students would have, and what the company could offer in the way of a tour. She discussed the level of understanding of the students and related concepts they could grasp in this field.
5. Describe the experience:
Ten students who were concerned with learning about the workings of this industry were met by the executive manager who described his job in relation to the concrete business. The students then went with him to the plant location where the operations begin. The students were driven to the site of the dredging, where the impure mixture of sand and gravel is brought up from 50 feet below the water surface by crane and then moved by huge earthmovers to be cleaned and separated, according to specification. The students watched and learned about these large machines and then followed the operation to the site where the sand and gravel are segregated by sets of sized screens and piled according to state specification. The manager continued his explanation of the operation, also describing historical methods of weights and measures, facts of weight and measure about the cubic yard, reasons for the necessity of specific measurements. He described some of the jobs done at the plant, their pay scale, and training requirements. After seeing the route of the raw sand and gravel to the cleaned and separated forms, the students then returned with the manager to the plant where the sand and gravel is stored, ready to be mixed in a certain ratio, according to size, with cement and water, to form a cohesive material. The students were given special slide rules to figure the number of yards of concrete mixture needed to fill a given area. The students were then weighed on the truck scale and given a certified weight. With these math ideas in mind, they returned to class to do some figuring and reporting to the rest of the class. Throughout the experience, the students asked questions.
6. Resource people used:
a. Manager of a concrete plant
b. Career education specialist
7. What concept or concepts were incorporated into the experience?
a. Individuals differ in their interest-appreciate both good and bad points of job.
b. Concept of how job related to, and contributes to society.
c. Learned training requirements for jobs.
Where People Live
1. Major concept: There is a relationship between the type of occupation and the worker's residence location.
2. What curriculum areas were incorporated into the experience? How?
a. English-discussion, interview, and communication techniques.
b. Spelling-learning new spelling words from job types and job descriptions.
c. Social studies-information gained showed the relationship between occupation and residence address.
3. Objectives to be met (concept, occupational information subject matter):
a. Students to interview each visitor to find out: (a) job description, (b) training and duties, (c) address.
b. Students to categorize each job encountered into one of three defined areas.
c. Students to see what the correlation is between type of occupation and workers' residences.
d. Students to name two possible factors in the relationship between occupation and residence; i.e., salary/house cost, location/convenience to work.
e. Name two ways the occupation contributes to society.
f. Name three jobs studied in each category and tell about their interrelationships and similarities. The job clusters can be used in comparison here.
4. Preparation required (steps or discussions leading into experience):
a. Teacher obtained a large map of the area and had the students put it up in the classroom.
b. Teacher obtained quantities of six differently colored map tacks.
c. Class discussion to form a workable definition of white and blue-collar workers; white to include business and professional positions, blue to include manual occupations; a third category to be service occupations.
d. Students to name two possible factors in the relationship between occupation and residence; i.e., salary /house cost, location/convenience to work.
e. Name two ways the occupation contributes to society.
f. Name three jobs studied in each category and tell about their interrelationships and similarities. (The job clusters can be used in comparison here.)
5. Describe the experience:
To begin the experience, the students first interviewed their father or mother to gain a better understanding of their parents' jobs and to practice fitting the jobs into the described area. Some parents came to class to tell about their jobs. The students worked in small groups to practice job classification, using the categories established in preparation number 4. The students decided on three additional colors to designate their parents' jobs in each of the three areas to correspond to the original color code. Each student then placed the appropriately colored tack at his or her address. A discussion followed as to the similarities or differences of the jobs. Of each visitor, the students asked the job description and salary (if the party didn't mind saying), his training and duties, and his address. A student then placed a colored tack in the proper place, after the class had decided into which category it fit. As the map was developing and at the end of the year, the class discussed the possible relationships between the types of jobs studied, their salaries, and where the worker lived.
6. Resource people used:
a. Career education specialist in getting various workers to speak to the class
b. Occupational Outlook Handbook used to acquaint the teacher and students with many kinds of jobs and how they can be classified
c. Various businessmen and community members, including parents
7. What other concept or concepts were incorporated into the experience?
a. Environment and individual potential interact to influence career development.
b. Knowledge and skill in different subjects relate to performance in different work roles.
c. There is a wide variety of occupations which may be classified in several ways.
d. Societal expectations influence the nature and structure of work.
