Lesson Plan

Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Jobs of the future

20 minutes

Find Out: What jobs and technologies can help the climate?

25 minutes

Take Action: What six key technologies can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Jobs of the future

Step 1

Ask your students to stand up out of their chairs. Read out the following list of future job predictions for 2050 for your students. Assign one side of the room as yes and one side as no. When students hear the job name, they must move to the side of the room that corresponds with their answer as to whether they think this will be a real job in the future or not. As you move through the list, call upon students to explain their reasoning behind their choice.

Job	True/False
Extinct Species Revivalist	True - This is already occurring with extinct species such as the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger
Robot Stylist	False
Printed Food engineer	True - As population increases and climate change causes concern for agriculture output, it may be critical to produce food in laboratories - this already happens with lab-grown meat!
Body part creator	True - It is forecast that 3D printing of both organs and body parts from stem cells will be commercially feasible in the near future.
Distraction Prevention Coach	True - Technology addictions have become such a problem that both specialist counsellors for addiction and counsellors employed in the human resources department of workplaces are predicted to help people concentrate on their work!
Human-AI team manager	True - It is forecasted that humans will need to work in teams with AI in many workplaces. The World Economic Forum actually predicted that machines will do more than 50% of labour globally by 2025.
Tidewater architect	True - With the sea levels expected to rise considerably in the next 30 years, these professionals will take on massive civil engineering projects to protect cities and infrastructure.
Autonomous transportation specialist	True - Increasing use of drones, self-drive vehicles and actually functional hoverboards, etc, will require humans who can ensure they integrate with traditional transport systems. Urban planning professionals will take on this work.
Computer programmer	False - Predictions are that AI will do this job in the future - what other jobs could AI do in the future?

Source: Business Tech Magazine

Step 2

Discuss the activity with your students:

What surprised them about the predicted jobs of the future?
Were there any jobs they expected?

This is an exaggerated look at what futuristic jobs could be available in the future. The purpose of this lesson is for students to understand the needs our society has now and in the future and how this may influence what jobs and careers society needs.

Ask your students where they think the demand for jobs in the future comes from.

Suggested responses: Environmental concerns such as climate change, technological advances such as AI and the opportunities this brings, scientific advances, global events, government policies, societal needs and changes.

Step 3

Explain to your students that, especially to scientists, there is one global concern that needs to be addressed - climate change. In the previous lessons in this unit, renewable energy and its comparison to fossil fuels, energy efficiency and innovation in renewable energy, as well as energy efficiency in buildings to create net zero homes, were covered to give students a thorough overview of how their scientific knowledge can allow them to not only understand what is happening in the world but be able to make a difference in these areas.

Find Out: What jobs and technologies can help the climate?

Preparation

Throughout the previous lessons in this physics unit, students have explored the initiatives related to renewable energy and the principles of designing and constructing houses and buildings. These endeavours aim to mitigate the impact of climate change by curbing emissions, promoting sustainability, and enhancing energy efficiency.

Note: Our Year 9 Earth and Space Unit - Exploring Earth’s Systems: Carbon, Climate and Renewable Energy complements this unit by looking more in-depth at the effects greenhouse gas emissions have on the carbon cycle and ways we can lessen these effects as well as methods of removing carbon from the atmosphere and creating nature positive renewable technologies.

Step 1

Ask students in pairs to match each profession to the tasks that are listed to get a small idea of what types of jobs exist in areas that are trying to lessen climate change. (yours is matched up; the activity on the student worksheet is jumbled.)

Task	Profession
Inventing a more energy-efficient engine.	Mechanical engineer
Maintaining a community battery storage system.	Electrician
Designing an artificial reef to help protect fish.	Environmental scientist/engineer
Keeping everyone working on an electric vehicle prototype on track.	Production manager
Discovering a less toxic way to get minerals from ore	Metallurgist
Designing an energy-saving smart technology system.	Electrical engineer
Inventing a new paint that reflects 98% of heat	Chemical engineer
Giving a building an energy efficiency rating	Building assessor
Finding out what a community wants in their neighbourhood.	Community consultation professional
Planning a solar power system for a new shopping centre.	Photovoltaic engineer

Step 2

In pairs, ask students to read pages 1-2 of the executive summary of the Deploy Report from Beyond Zero Emissions. This report demonstrates that an 81% emissions reduction is achievable by 2030 by focusing on six key technologies and scaling up their rollout across Australia. The report seems daunting but is quite accessible and clear for some main points.

Ask students to take note of the following:

What are the 6 technologies that will help Australia cut its greenhouse gas emissions?
- Solar panels, Wind turbines, Batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps and electrolysers.
What does the plan need to succeed?
- Skilled people, reliable supply chains, investment and coordination.

Take Action: What six key technologies can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?

Step 1

Allocate your students to one of the six key technologies they discovered above. Their job is to research using the internet, and the Deploy plan, their chosen technology to find out:

What is this technology?
How does this technology work? (Use your science knowledge!)
How does this technology reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
What benefits does this technology have? (Both environmentally and societally)
Are there any disadvantages of this type of technology or anything that needs to be considered?
What type of jobs or careers does this technology need to succeed?
What innovations are happening in this technology, especially in Australia?

Note: Encourage students to think out of the box. Wind and solar projects seem easy enough to implement, but students should think about the land that needs to be used for these wind and solar farms. Where is the land? Who lives there? What animals live there? Will the project affect the biodiversity of the local area or the community? Students may think about jobs such as wind turbine technicians and mechanical engineers, however, jobs that deal with issues such as environmental assessments, protecting biodiversity, and liaising with local communities are equally important if we want to implement these technologies fairly and in a way that benefits everyone!

Step 2

Once students have finished researching, create groups of 6 so that each group has one representative from each topic. Students should share the findings they made about their technology with the rest of the group so that they all have an idea about what each topic entails.

As their peers are presenting, encourage the other students in the group to listen carefully and even take notes. At the end of the sharing process, all students should write down a sector that they are the most interested in (that wasn’t their topic originally)

You might like to discuss these topics with the whole class and encourage students to talk about things they found interesting or that surprised them. What are they excited about in the future, considering what they’ve learned? What are they apprehensive about? How do they think they could make a difference?

Step 3

Ask students - will rolling out these 6 technologies in large amounts fix everything?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Although these technologies and their associated rollout would definitely play a vital role in reducing the level of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, there is still much that can be done in other areas.

Ask students what the upside of this is.

This means that there are many areas for students to be able to make a difference no matter what their interests and skills! It doesn’t have to be in technology and renewable energy. Areas like land use and regeneration, sustainable buildings and their construction, other renewable energies, ocean regeneration, biodiversity protection, and much more will positively affect the environment and society and need passionate, skilled people to tackle them. The more we can reduce our emissions through the six key technologies, the easier these jobs will all become, especially when we have passionate, knowledgeable young people coming through as the next generation!

Reflection

Invite your students to reflect on today's lesson by answering the following questions

Write a headline that would go in the newspaper based on what you’ve learnt today to let people know what the most important piece of information they should know is
If you could pick any dream job that would reduce climate change in some way, what would it be?
What would be the coolest thing about ending up in a job like the ones you researched today?

Careers in Energy That Can Make a Difference to Climate Change

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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