Geosciences Careers for Kids and Parents is a Track 1 program by Jim Metzner Productions (JMP) that uses its current communication platforms - the Pulse of the Planet (PoP) radio programs and website and the Kids Science Challenge website - to involve upper elementary children and their parents/caregivers and other adults in learning about geosciences research and careers. JMP's award-winning PoP radio program, which reaches 1,000,000+ listeners weekly, profiles geoscientists and encourages parents to involve their children in the geosciences. The PoP companion pulseplanet.com website provides podcasts of past radio programs and additional resources for engaging learners in the geosciences. On JMP's Kidsciencechallenge.com website, children(8-13 years of age) will find "kid friendly" profiles and videos of geoscientists and their careers, rich resources and interactivity on the sciences and further career activities, presented as part of a project that has already actively engaged thousands of children in learning about and "doing" science. The Pulse of the Planet and Kids' Science Challenge websites receive an average of 9,600 page views daily. PBS television's The News Hour and the PBS education site will feature our video segments on geoscientists featured in PoP programs.
If we are to better understand such important issues as the sustainable use of our natural resources and climate change, then it's essential that we train the next generation of scientists to deal with these challenges. The GeoScience Careers for Kids and Adults is a step in that direction. With the thousands of parents, educators and students reached with the Kids Science Challenge compeition (2009 - 2012,ESI #0714633) as a base audience, we created the Careers in Science Page on kidsciencechallenge.com - a series of videos, interviews and career paths designed to engage students and interest them in a number of GeoScience Careers. The career paths include resources for elementary, middle school, high school and college students. The idea is to present a clear trajectory for a student to the career of their choice with a sampling of age/grade appropriate books, games, field trips, weblinks, internships, summer courses, science toys and gear. Highlighted careers include: mineralogy, palentology, seismology and ocean microbiology. The project was vetted by an independent evaluator, Knight Williams Research. Here is an excerpt from their summative evaluation: Prior to visiting the Science Careers website, the majority of youth indicated that they were moderately to very interested in science and moderately to very knowledgeable about science. At the same time, the largest groups of youth said they were either moderately interested (32%) or slightly interested (23%) in a career in science. After watching the videos, the youth generally indicated that they had learned a moderate amount from the experience, and most often pointed to their new understanding of the variety of science career options, while more than half of the parents/guardians said that their child had gained a broader sense of the career options available in science by visiting the site. Additionally, just over half of the youth indicated that the videos inspired them to consider a career in science. When asked to describe the impact of the site on their future career interests, about two-thirds of the youth indicated they were open to learning more about science careers, while just under one-third said that they saw themselves in another type of career. The remaining youth answered that the site reinforced their scientific interests. Together, these results indicate that one potentially powerful way to engage youth in STEM is through the collective stories of real scientists that, when taken together, illustrate a diverse range of STEM career options. The direct link to the site is http://kidsciencechallenge.com/careers/index.php Summarizing, the GeoScience Careers for Kids and Adults website is is a useful, linkable resource to encourage students to pursue careers in science. It has the potential to be be utilized throughout all stages of the student's education.
