Future Quest Island - Career Scenarios in Science and Health

Basics

Project TitleFuture Quest Island - Career Scenarios in Science and Health
ThemeCareer activities focused on science and health
Submitted ByFuture Quest Island
OrganizationFuture Quest Island / Institute for Community Inclusion
Brief DescriptionStudents are assigned to imagine that they are working in a particular career - such as a physical education instructor, nutritionist, or researcher, and design a plan for a client. For example, as a nutritionist, they may design a diet for a client.
Materials / ResourcesResource websites -- found from the Broad Institute, Museum of Science, ASCB, Mass in Motion, Choose My Plate.
Web Link: American Society for Cell Biology | K-12 Resources [1]

Web Link: Museum Online (digital library) | Museum of Science, Boston [2]

Web Link: Mass in Motion Municipal Wellness & Leadership Program [3]

Web Link: ChooseMyPlate.gov (Healthy eating) [4]
Pre-requisite knowledgeNone

Units / Activities

Scenario 1: NutritionistYou are a nutritionist working in a health clinic on Future Quest Island. A mother and daughter visit you to get advice about diet. The mother is a little bit overweight, and she says that her 12-year-old daughter is worried about gaining weight too quickly. She says that the other people in the family are slender and never worry about their weight. She asks for help in creating a healthy diet for the whole family. Your job: create a chart that they can take home and hang up in the kitchen outlining a healthy diet. Keep in mind the healthy foods available on the island: there is lots of seafood and lots of gardens available to people on the island.Resources: Food plans from the USDA choosemyplate.gov site.
Web Link: Choose My Plate | General Diet Plan [5]

Web Link: Choose My Plate | Customize a diet. (SKIP STEP 2) [6]
Scenario 2: Physical Education TeacherYou are a physical education teacher working in a middle school on Future Quest Island. You have been asked to teach a six-week summer program. You want to make sure that all the students learn about some lifelong sports and activities that they can enjoy now and still enjoy when they are adults. Your job: Write a schedule for a six-week summer program that teaches the students about sports and exercise that can be enjoyed by all ages. Things to think about include: What are some activities that children, teens and adults enjoy? What are some places in your city or town where adults and families can get exercise? What types of sports and exercise do you see adults in your family and community enjoying? Think about all types of physical activity, such as walking, going to a farmers market, gardening, etc.Resources: Website linked here is a City of Boston website with links to resources and places for family/community sports and exercise. The "Mass in Motion" initiative has links to other city and town based websites promoting lifelong healthy living. (http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/community-health/... [3])
Web Link: Boston Community Resources for Lifelong Sports and Exercise [7]

Web Link: Mass in Motion Municipal Wellness & Leadership Program [3]
Scenario 3: Research ScientistYou are a research scientist working in a research lab. Your lab does research about how to prevent and treat illnesses and health problems. A foundation is offering grant money to scientists to study ways to prevent and treat diseases. You want to apply for this grant money. Your job: Write a grant proposal explaining what diseases you will study and what experiments you plan to do. In your proposal, explain why you have selected this disease for your work and what you hope to learn from your experiments. (Your ideas can be partly realistic and partly imaginary. The purpose of this assignment is to let you think about what researchers do.... but you don`t have to become an expert!)Resources: Websites linked here provide inspiration for students. (1.) The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT are studying similarities between dog diseases and human diseases. This research might lead to information about how to prevent and treat diseases for both dogs and humans. (2.) The Museum of Science Nanoexplorer website has animations showing a little bit about how super-small nanoparticles can be used in research with mice. (3.) The QSTORM website has creative videos about a project using tiny quantum dots to look inside cells.
Web Link: Dog Diseases | Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard [8]

Web Link: QSTORM animations | Creative videos about a science team learning how to use quantum dots to [9]

Web Link: Nanomedicine Explorer | Museum of Science Digital Library [10]
Scenario 4: Fisheries Scientist / BiostatisticianYou are a biostatistician working for the Future Quest Island Fisheries Council. As a Biostatistician, you work with statistics (numbers) related to biology. You are studying a shortage of fish near the island. Future Quest Island fishermen catch fish on the Quest Banks, an area of the ocean with lots of fish, lobster, scallops and clams. But lately, it seems like the area is running out of fish. It would help if people would catch fewer fish, and let the population of fish increase. The fishermen have hired you to do a study to figure out how many fish they should catch each year. Your job: Draw a diagram or chart or write a journal page describing your study of fish populations. You can use made-up numbers. You dont have to be an expert; just use your imagination to think about what scientists might measure when they study fish populations.
Scenario 5: Nutritionist (option 2)You are a Nutritionist at Mass General Hospital working in the surgical recovery unit. One of your patients is a 6th grader who is having surgery on her ankle. She will be in the hospital for 3 days. Your job is to provide a menu for all 3 meals for each day each meal must include at least 3 of the major food groups (proteins, fruits & vegetables, etc.). No two meals can be the same! Good luck!

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collegecareer [11]