Jobs that use Geology (Year 9)

Geology opens doors to 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 9 students where Geology can take them.

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 9 and features careers linked to the following subjects:

  • Geology

This is one of three lesson plans for teachers introducing Geology to Year 9 students:

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 9. When students start considering their GCSE choices, the earlier they have a concrete sense of where Geology can take them, the better the decisions they'll make later in the year.

Learning objectives

  • Students will understand that Geology is used in a wide range of jobs.
  • Students will be able to explain how Geology is used in 2-3 specific jobs.

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 2-3 jobs you think will surprise your students.
  • View the detailed career page for those jobs so that you know what's there before the class starts.

During the lesson

1. What jobs use Geology? (5 minutes)

  • Ask the class to suggest jobs that use Geology and why.
  • Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Exploring jobs that use Geology (15 minutes)

  • Bring up the Jobs that use Geology page on the classroom screen.
  • Scroll through the list of jobs to find ones that students didn't suggest.
    • Discuss the short description for each job.
    • Discuss how Geology is used in each job.
  • Click on a few of the jobs to show the full description.
    • Discuss what that job involves day-to-day.
    • Discuss how other subjects are used in that job.

3. Making it personal (10 minutes)

  • Ask students to pick one job from today's lesson that interested them most.
  • Go round the class, asking each student to name their job and explain why it caught their attention.
  • Close by reminding students that Geology opens doors to many careers, not just the obvious ones.

After the lesson