Jobs that use Geology (Year 11)

Geology leads into careers in earth science research, environmental and engineering work, the energy and minerals industries, ground investigation, stonemasonry, and reconstructing the deep past. This lesson plan will help you to show Year 11 students how to weigh careers and plan their next steps.

This lesson is designed to be delivered in 30 minutes as a teacher-led classroom activity.

This activity supports the following frameworks:

  • Gatsby Benchmark 4

This activity is suitable for Year 11 and features careers linked to the following subjects:

  • Geology

This is one of three lesson plans designed for Year 11 Geology teachers:

These lesson plans will help you show students how Geology connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the very beginning of Year 11. When students start seriously weighing what comes after GCSEs, the earlier they have a concrete sense of where Geology can take them, the better the decisions they'll make later in the year.

A-Level Geology doesn't require GCSE Geology, so this lesson is also useful for any Year 11 student considering it as a fresh start - including students whose school doesn't offer GCSE Geology but who are drawn to the careers it leads to.

Learning objectives

  • Students will be able to evaluate specific jobs that use Geology.
  • Students will understand what those jobs involve day-to-day and how to move towards them.
  • Students will name a job that interests them and describe a next step towards it.

Before the lesson

  • You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
  • Open the Jobs that use Geology page and have it ready on the screen.
  • Review the list of jobs that use Geology. Pick 3 jobs to explore in more depth:
    • One job that's predictable for Geology.
    • One job that's less predictable for Geology.
    • One job that's reached through an apprenticeship.
  • View the detailed career page for those jobs so that you know what's there before the class starts.

During the lesson

1. What do you already know? (5 minutes)

  • Ask the class to suggest jobs that use Geology and briefly explain how.
  • Write the suggestions on the board. Note which jobs feel realistic to them and which feel distant.

2. Looking at jobs in depth (15 minutes)

  • Bring up the Jobs that use Geology page on the classroom screen.
  • For each of the jobs you picked, open the full career page and discuss with the class:
    • What does the job involve day-to-day?
    • How does the job use Geology skills?
    • What other subjects or skills are important?
    • What routes lead into that job?
  • Spend more time on one page if students are engaged, rather than rushing through all three.

3. Making it personal (10 minutes)

  • Ask students to pick one job from today's lesson that they could see themselves doing.
  • Go round the class, asking each student to name the job and answer:
    • What is it about the job that appeals to you most?
    • What would you need to do or find out next to move towards it?
  • Close by reminding students that knowing what you don't want is just as useful as knowing what you do want. Both help you make better post-16 choices.

After the lesson