2. What kind of
people do physics?
What jobs
need a physics
qualification?
What first springs to
mind when you think
about physics?
What do you want
for your future?
Do you think physics
is part of it?
3. Task: Use the profiles around the classroom to pick individuals who fit the
description. Each person can appear in more than one category.
Find someone who
is making a
difference
Find someone who
needs physics to do
their job
Find someone who
works in a team
Find someone
who uses their own
life experiences in
their job
Who is most
similar to you?
Who are you most
inspired by?
5. Profile discussion
questions How are they
making a
difference?
How much
do you think
this person
gets paid?
What do
they bring to
their job that
is special?
What inspired
them to take
physics?
How does
physics help
them with what
they do?
6. Task: Select the skills you think you gain from doing physics?
Problem solving
Experimentation
Teamwork
Presenting Skills
Writing
Resilience
Hands-on
Digital skills
Analysis
Communication
Maths
Decision making
Creativity
7. All of them!
Problem solving
Experimentation
Teamwork
Maths
Presenting Skills
Writing
Decision making
Resilience
Creativity
Hands-on
Digital skills
Analysis
Communication
This lesson is aimed at 12 – 15 year old students. It aims to challenge students’ often stereotyped or limited views of who does physics and where it can take you. It uses the profiles from the Limit Less careers booklet to show that:
Doing physics enables young people to change the world
Physics is for people of all identities
Physics depends upon teamwork and diverse viewpoints
Being a physicist isn’t the only career option available to physics students
Physics opens the door to many stable, well paid career options through both academic, technical and applied/work-based training routes.
Please see the “Limit Less careers – guidance for teachers” document for more information on the Limit Less campaign.
Times for the activities below are flexible to suit your class and the time available
You will need:
Pens
Post its
Print outs of each profile
Print out of slide 6 table
What do you think about physics?
This is a chance for students to consider what they currently think about physics, whether its for them, and what role it has in their future.
'What do you thing about physics?' Ask students to write and post up what springs to mind when they think about physics. Stick these all in one place.
Use this activity as an opportunity for students to take ownership over the rest of the lesson.
Allow students to write broad answers including thinking about jobs, lifestyle, family and friends, dreams and achievements.
Then - time for a discussion:
- What first springs to mind when they think about physics? Do they think physics is interesting and/or exciting? Why? Why not?
- What do they want for their future? Do they think physics is part of it? Do they think physics is for them? Why? Why not?
- What kind of people do they think do physics? Why?
- Can they think of any jobs that they could get with a physics qualification?
Cut up a Limit Less careers booklet and stick the profiles around the classroom. Use the profiles around the classroom to pick individuals who fit the descriptions in the table. Each person can appear in more than one category.
(There are no correct answers)
Once students have completed this, get them to discuss with their partner why they made those decisions.
Time for a discussion:
Discuss the reasons for students selecting each individual. Did they find it challenging to pick just one person?
Give students a few different profiles and discuss.
Use the questions provided on the slide to create discussions around each profile.
You may wish to put students into groups with the questions and a small set of profiles to discuss.
Some more questions for discussion:
- Who did you think was making a difference? Why?
- Which of the jobs do you care most about? Why?
- Whose job do you think is most interesting/exciting.
- Whose job would you most like to do?
- How much do you think these people get paid?
- Do you think there are other jobs in the industries in which the people in the booklet work?
What skills have you seen used by the people in the profiles? Are there any others that you think physicists might use?
Ask pupils to select from the list, what skills they think a physicist has (all of them are gained from physics, but students may not realise this)
You may just want to have a general discussion about the skills that students use when studying physics. It may be worth contrasting these with the other sciences. Physics is a measurement heavy subject and being able to use measuring equipment is central to doing a great deal of physics. However physics is also about obtaining, recording , presenting , analysing , and drawing conclusions. you may find it useful to set up an experiment so that you can discuss the range of skills employed throughout an investigation. The following slide does this explicitly. This list of skills here is not exhaustive.
A possible activity could be for students to make their own list of skills and then use the list on the slide to both check and prompt the students. Hopefully students will also come up with other skills .
Ask students 'What do you think about physics now?' 'How could physics help with your future?' Ask students to write and post up their answers. Have any of their opinions about physics changed as a result of the discussions? Stick these all in one place.
Then - time for a discussion:
- Do they think physics is interesting and/or exciting? Why? Why not?
- What do they want for their future? Do they think physics is part of it? Do they think physics is for them? Why? Why not?
- What kind of people do they think do physics? Why?
- Can they think of any jobs that they could get with a physics qualification?
