Your invitation to lead students to their perfect career
Through exciting shows and engaging events, The Big Bang will show your students that science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) can lead to extraordinary jobs and dazzling careers.
At the Big Bang Fair a range of exciting shows and activities will demonstrate how STEM is used in robotics, travel, medicine and fighting climate change, to name but a few possibilities. And our careers activities will encourage visitors to The Big Bang to see the future career possibilities for themselves.
The careers quest
Developed by VT Careers, the quest involves activities, questions and tasks in which young people can take part and learn about STEM careers before during and after visiting The Big Bang.
The careers quest begins with activities for teachers to lead with their students prior to the event, for example word searches and quizzes, to undertake on the journey to the event. They can draw up questions to ask role models and reflect on 'what jobs use STEM?' for example. These will involve introducing students to the four zones at The Big Bang and encourage visits to key careers websites such as Future Morph, Maths Careers and Tomorrow’s Engineers.
Take our quick quiz and learn more about the exiting companies and careers on offer in The NeXt Factor; Go Global; Body Talk and Power Up?
At the event the Careers Quest will encourage groups of young people to visit and take part in the activities on the show floor whilst the questions will prompt them to consider how STEM is relevant for a variety of careers. Students and teachers will collect stickers or signatures on their quest sheet for answering questions and taking part in activities. Interaction with our Big Bang volunteers will be encouraged who will be wearing question stickers, which will say, for example, “Ask me how I use maths?”.
On completing the careers quest students and teachers can collect a goody bag of promotional items from the central hub. Students can then follow up everything they’ve experienced by visiting the Future Morph website after the Big Bang and enter a prize draw to be in with a chance of winning an iPod touch!
Schools or individuals can also choose to start the quest when at the event by visiting the central hub on the main show floor.
Activities plus
Hands-on activities managed by Inspiring Futures will be taking place in the Charter Foyer and behind the Next Factor zone on the show floor.
In the charter foyer there will be a traditional fair Coconut Shy. This activity will encourage students to think about what skills are required for specific science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) jobs.
Also in the charter foyer you are invited to have your say. A feedback wall has been designed to assist event evaluation and consolidate learning. Students can post stickers to answer questions about their experience at The Big Bang and tell us about what inspired them.
At the back of the Next Factor zone students can take part in the Pathways Maze. Here students will guide a fellow blindfolded participant to collect a series of stars which represent stages in their route to a STEM job.
Also at the back of the NeXt Factor zone students can take part in building our people. They can choose skills and attributes to build a STEM person who is fit to tackle the challenges of future.
Speed Networking
This activity uses a “speed dating” format and will give students around 4 minutes at a time to chat with a role model. Very successful at the 2009 Big Bang, role models were encouraged to bring a prompt object and students were provided with example questions to help them get started.
At this year’s event, each zone has a theatre area which will be used for the scheduled speed networking session.
There will be six half hour slots each day taking place in the zones. Check your on-site guide for more information about times and locations of these sessions.
The central hub
A section of the central hub in the exhibition hall will be reserved for students and adults with specific questions for careers advisors. They will provide advice and access to a wide range of careers information and teaching resources.
Saturday
There will be two 'careers' panel sessions on the Saturday; designed to provide key information about careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people and their parents and carers:
What jobs can science and maths lead to? 11.00am on Saturday, 13th March, in Central Meeting Room 4. At this session, a panel of experts will provide examples of where STEM skills are essential for a wide range of jobs, and why STEM skills are so valued by employers. It will be chaired by Kate Bellingham.
Making sense of science, technology, engineering and maths qualifications? 14.00 on Saturday, 13th March in Central Meeting Room 4. This panel will consist of admissions tutors from local universities and colleges who will advise on finding the right STEM course, how to get on it and how to succeed. It will be chaired by Diana Garnham, the Chief Executive of the Science Council.
We look forward to seeing you there and don’t forget to look out for those quest goody bags!
Date Published: March 05, 2010
