The future’s looking up

Diverse careers in astrophysics astronomy

Astronomers and astrophysicists are interviewed about their unique professions and reveal just how diverse their careers can be.  

Dr Tanya Hill introducing show and partnership interviews

Dr Tanya Hill Manager | Senior Curator, Astronomy Melbourne Planetarium

Dr Brian Schmidt | Astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Australian National University (CAASTRO member)

Dr Alan Duffy | Astrophysicist and Science Communicator at Swinburne University (CAASTRO member)

Dr Fang Yuan |Research staff at the Australian National University (CAASTRO member)

Prof Tamara Davis | Astrophysicist at the University of Queensland (CAASTRO member)

Dr Ben McKinley | Research staff at University of Melbourne (CAASTRO member)

These interviews reveal just how diverse a career in astronomy or astrophysics can be. These astronomers or astrophysicists talk about their unique professions, what attracted them to astronomy/astrophysics, how technology influenced their careers and the type of skills they use.

1. Choose three interviewees you would like to know more about. Before you watch the videos, make predictions about how each person might answer the questions for each profession.
2. The following strategy will help you take notes efficiently while you watch each video by helping you focus on the important information being conveyed. While you watch each video, take notes by jotting down single words that represent the most important information being conveyed. Once you have listened to the video in its entirety, use the words as triggers to write down what else you remember, making connections between them if you can. Repeat this strategy for each of the interviewees chosen. How effective was this strategy in helping you take notes?
3. How well did you do with your predictions? Get into pairs or small groups and discuss, analyse and compare your predictions to the actual responses by the interviewees. Identify and discuss the most important thing that you learned from watching these interviews? Did you learn anything about yourself or your assumptions? Explain.
4. What factors do all the interviewees have in common?
5. What differences set them apart?
6. What are some common skills they use that are transferable to other occupations?
7. This activity will challenge your creative skills. If you had to identify each of the following words with one of the interviewees you learned about, which one would you match to which person/career and why. You will need to think outside the box. The words are: menu, scissors, phone, sign, triangle, brush, leaf.
8. Represent the information collected in Questions 2,4 & 5 using a Venn diagram or digital media that can display similarities and differences effectively. (Eg. Venn diagram App, Compare and Contrast Map)
9. Research other occupations or careers that involve astronomy or astrophysics. If you had to choose one of these careers as your future career, which would best suit your personality or strengths and why? Write down your response. (Hint: Examples of careers include: Bioinformatics, Work in observatories, Work in planetariums, producers, curators, Computer programming, Science journalism, Geophysics, Meteorology)
10. Choose one of these occupations you researched in question 9. Use digital technology to role play and record an interview with a person working in this field. Prepare four or five questions to ask. Share and present this interview to your class for comment.
11. In pairs, write two paragraphs that would persuade someone to study astronomy or astrophysics to take up one of the careers that you researched in question 9. You may want to contact someone in this role as part of your research. Find out the pros and cons about this profession. Choose the most creative way you can think of to present your findings.

Advice to teachers

These activities are aimed at Year 7-10 students and link to the Victorian Curriculum Learning Area of Science: Science as a Human Endeavour and Capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social. Feel free to copy and paste specific activities and create a worksheet that will appeal to your students or target your curriculum focus. These activities utilise and challenge the following skills: research skills, negotiation skills, classification skills, writing skills, presentation skills, communication skills, persuasive writing skills, creative thinking skills, predicting and interpretative skills.

Victorian Curriculum:

Year 7-10 Learning Area of Science: Science as a Human Endeavour and Capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social.