Students explore Future Farming activity at this year’s Careers Hive
Mooving on up! Students Max Connolly and Amy Mills of Vale of Leven Academy pose alongside Elsie, a life-size Ayrshire dairy cow, as part of the Future Farming activity at Edinburgh Science’s annual week-long free schools event Careers Hive.
Initially developed in 2016, Careers Hive is an annual event from Edinburgh Science which inspires S1-S3 pupils to pursue a STEM-based career through hands-on activities and discussions with early-career STEM professionals.
Careers Hive 2024 takes place for schools between 28 October and 1 November at the National Museum of Scotland, with a Public Open Day on 2 November.
Careers Hive offers a unique and fascinating insight that showcases STEM skills as transferrable to a wide range of sectors.
Over 2,500 pupils got an invaluable insight into STEM-based careers thanks to Edinburgh Science’s annual schools event
Soon to celebrate 10 years, just-finished Careers Hive 2023 is hailed as a huge success with over 2,500 pupils from secondary schools all across the central belt visiting National Museum of Scotland to get hands-on with science.
They heard from young STEM professionals about their careers – and sometimes more unusual paths to their dream jobs – and took part in various workshops and activities, including performing keyhole surgery, assembling a model of a space satellite, programming a robot or insulating a home.
Initially developed in 2016, Careers Hive inspires S1-S3 pupils to pursue a STEM-based(science, technology, engineering and maths) career through hands-on activities, discussions with STEM professionals and workshops to equip them with skills and confidence to progress in their chosen field.
Careers Hive addresses the problem of young people not choosing STEM subjects by encouraging and showcasing where they will lead.
A teacher participating in Careers Hive said: “One pupil told me as we entered the Museum: ‘to be honest, I’m here for the day out of school’. Come the end of the visit, he was telling me which STEM careers he was interested in, and how the event changed his perceptions about STEM!
“It opened all the pupils’ eyes to the wider range of STEM jobs rather than just a scientist or an engineer.”
Careers Hive is supported by a range of funders, please see below for a full list for 2023. Edinburgh Science Learning projects reach around 35,000 people every year.
Mark your calendars:
Careers Hive is back in 2024 at the National Museum of Scotland for schools between Monday 28 October and Friday 1 November with the Public Open Day on Saturday, 2 November.
If your school is interested in attending in 2024, please contact:
Assemble a space satellite or perform a surgery: Edinburgh Science addresses the problem of pupils not choosing STEM subjects by getting them hands-on with science
Edinburgh Science is pleased to announce the return of its annual Careers Hive, a week-long free schools event with a Public Open Day on Saturday, 11 November.
Initially developed in 2016, Careers Hive inspires S1-S3 pupils to pursue a STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and maths) career through hands-on activities, discussions with STEM professionals and workshops to equip them with skills and confidence to progress in their chosen field. Careers Hive addresses the problem of young people not choosing STEM subjects by encouraging and showcasing where they will lead.
Between 6 and 10 of November at the National Museum of Scotland, Careers Hive can be accessed by pre-booked school groups only with a Public Open Day on Saturday, 11 November.
Thursday will also see the return of Teacher CLPL (Career Long Professional Learning) Session which will provide activity ideas and discussions to take back to the classroom. The session is free to attend for any educators (e.g. teachers, youth group leaders) and doesn’t require them to have attended Careers Hive itself to benefit from.
Pupils will be able to experience:
Grand Gallery Interactive Exhibition with four themed zones where they engage with STEM professional and try out different hands-on activities related to real jobs, e.g. perform a keyhole surgery, insulate a house, build a robot or assemble a model of a space satellite.
Panel Discussions in the Auditorium during which they hear from STEM professionals about their education and career stories;
Workshop in the Learning Centre where they explore how the skills and interests they are developing at school help them face the challenges in the future.
This year’s speakers include an award-winning climate activist, environmental scientist, and ethical influencer Laura Young aka Less Waste Laura who started, and continues to lead, the campaign to see single-use disposable vapes banned across Scotland and the UK;
Zoe Clark, Mission Manager within launch team for Spire Global, a space company harnessing the world’s largest constellation of 100+ multipurpose satellites collecting data to enable organisations to make smarter, better, faster decisions in a rapidly changing world impacted by climate change.
Zoe started at Spire Global through an apprenticeship programme, working alongside attending college and is very passionate about inspiring young minds to pursue a career in STEM;
Documentary director, tv presenter and wildlife photographer Libby Penman whose new documentary Back from the Brink, showcasing the amazing work of conservationists fighting to save wildlife across Europe, is now available on BBC iPlayer.
Laura McLister, Head of Learning at Edinburgh Science said:“Our world is facing some of its toughest challenges yet and whether it is tackling the climate emergency, harnessing the capabilities of AI or responding to global health crises, skills in STEM have never been so useful.
“However, despite so many inspiring opportunities out there many young people believe STEM subjects and jobs are not for them. Careers Hive challenges this perception head on.
“Over 2,500 young people from across Scotland will visit the National Museum of Scotland where we will help them discover what a job in STEM really entails and share the incredible opportunities that exist if they continue to study STEM topics at school.
“Aimed at inspiring the next generation of problem solvers, Careers Hive offers a unique chance for S1–S3 pupils to try hands on activities and speak directly to career professionals working in STEM industries, who will showcase some of the fascinating jobs available and inspire the young people to think about what problems they want to solve to help build a better world.”
A teacher participating in Careers Hive said: “One pupil told me as we entered the Museum ‘to be honest, I’m here for the day out of school’.
“Come the end of the visit, he was telling me which STEM careers he was interested in, and how the event changed his perceptions about STEM. It opened all the pupils’ eyes to the wider range of STEM jobs rather than just a scientist or an engineer.”
Careers Hive is supported by a range of funders.
Edinburgh Science Learning projects reach around 60,000 people every year.
How Edinburgh Science Learning gets pupils into STEM with Careers Hive
Careers Hive is a free careers education event from Edinburgh Science Learning aimed at S1-S3 pupils which takes place at the National Museum of Scotland from 24th to 29th February 2020 with Saturday 29th being a general public Open Day.
Through a series of hands-on activities and discussions with young STEM professionals, Careers Hive provides students with new ways of thinking about their future careers.
This year’s programme includes discussions with the founder and director of Fodilicious, the UK’s first certified convenience foods that help those with IBS. Joining them is the founder of Seawater Solutions, whose idea of growing food with seawater addresses the degradation of land and the loss of biodiversity.
Over 3500 pupils from 40 schools around Scotland will take part in Careers Hive in 2020.
To further encourage teachers to engage with their students about STEM subjects, Careers Hive offers a free Teacher Afternoon on Friday 28 February.
Careers Hive is an annual, week-long free event run by Edinburgh Science Learning, the education arm of Edinburgh Science Foundation and one of the UK’s leaders in science education.
The organisation delivers projects to and for teachers and schools throughout the year which have reached more than a million pupils around Scotland over the past three decades.
Initially developed in 2016, Careers Hive inspires S1-S3 pupils to pursue a STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and maths) career through hands-on activities, workshops and discussions STEM professionals who are early in their careers. The event is designed to help young people realise what skills they possess that might be useful in a STEM career through fun and engaging workshops and activities,
This year the event takes place between 24 and 29 February at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and will welcome over 3500 pupils from 40 schools all around Scotland. The event is now fully booked with school visits but audiences are encouraged to visit the Museum on Saturday 29 February between 11am and 4pm which is the Careers Hive Open Day.
Joan Davidson, Head of Learning at Edinburgh Science, said: “We are so excited to be welcoming over 3500 of Scotland’s young people to the National Museum of Scotland for Careers Hive this February.
“Our aim over the course of the week is to open their eyes to the incredible opportunities available to them through their lives if they continue to study science, technologies and maths at school.
“We hope that by taking part in our massive range of engaging, hands-on activities and by chatting to professionals from the science, tech, engineering and maths industries that are early in their careers, they will think about some of the fascinating jobs that can be open to them in the future and the different education and career paths that lead there.”
EXPERIENCE STEM
Students get hands-on with STEM careers in the Grand Gallery with four themed zones. Throughout each zone students engage with professionals about their jobs, and experience tasks and activities related to different fields.
One of them is Hannah Costello, a British Heart Foundation-funded researcher at the University of Edinburgh, currently in the third year of a four-year PhD with the charity. High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for heart and circulatory disease in Scotland and Hannah’s research investigates the effects of stress and salt on blood pressure.
The zones and some of the activities are:
Build and Connect looks at our connections through the internet, keeping transport systems running smoothly, designing homes for a growing population and creating happy communities. This includes an activity showing how machines can run a production line efficiently, and engines that participants can take apart to see their inner workings.
Design and Play illustrates how good design can make a complicated task simple, how to turn an idea into reality, creating and manipulating our digital environments and how coding is changing the world; this includes a special appearance from Robotical’s Marty the Robot, a programmable robot with character.
Energy and Environment focuses on finding the right mix of energy sources from the environment, smarter ways to distribute energy and technologies that help create clean and green energy; and an augmented reality mapping activity to show how windfarm sites are developed and an activity measuring the infra-red radiation escaping from models to show how we can reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings.
Heal and Feed examines technology in health and wellbeing and the challenges around getting water where it is needed, feeding a growing population and dealing with disease and epidemics. As part of this, pupils will perform knee, head or abdomen surgery using real-life surgical equipment in E.R. Scottish Water will also be presenting a new activity showing how water gets to our taps and how to deal with waste.
At the centre of the exhibition the Think Tank, supported by Wheatley Foundation, hosts a ‘speed meet-up’ careers activity where students get face-to-face with those in the early stages of a STEM career, giving them the chance to hear about experiences and ask questions.
LIFE AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL supported by Royal Bank of Scotland
Students partake in a panel discussion with young STEM professionals to learn about their jobs, break stigmas and have their own say on important issues in the industry today.
Among others, this year’s line-up includes:
Yanik Nyberg, founder of Seawater Solutions. After seeing the destructive impacts of conventional agriculture and the threat of rising sea-levels in Scotland, Africa and Asia, Yanik came up with the idea of growing food with seawater to address the degradation of land and the loss of biodiversity. This system of farming creates wetland ecosystems on which food can be grown, while carbon is captured at a rate of up to 40 times higher than the same area of rainforest, and profits are over eight times more profitable than the average potato field.
Pooja Jain came to Scotland in 2011 to do a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, followed by a master’s degree in Neuroscience by Research at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests focused on “cognitive characteristics and interventions for neurological disorders”, including lab-based research into various aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. This interest now drives her business, Edinburgh-based CogniHealth, which is developing a “digital companion” called CogniCare for helping people with dementia and their carers.
Lauren Leisk is the founder and director of award-winning food start up Fodilicious Ltd. The young entrepreneur and Business Management graduate has valuable experience in the food industry. After suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) for many years, Lauren started Fodilicious to bring the UK’s first certified convenience foods to market helping those with IBS and gut health to find products for their diet that are also delicious and healthy for anyone to enjoy, thus fulfilling a huge gap in the UK free from food industry.
Michael Harkins, the Founder of Turtle Pack, an award-winning swimming aid for children 2+. Having graduated from Heriot-Watt University and worked as a swimming instructor for over a decade, Michael started Turtle Pack in 2015. “Swimming isn’t just a sport – it’s a life skill. I’ve always been passionate about teaching children to swim, whether that’s in lessons or by using Turtle Pack. The tools out there for parents and swimming instructors haven’t really changed in decades, but we understand so much more now about how children best learn new skills.”
An important goal of Careers Hive is to raise awareness amongst young people that there is not a set education or career path they have to follow to work within STEM industries. Many STEM professionals may have a background in something completely different, but they can still use those skills towards a successful science, tech, engineering or maths career.
There will be several speakers from Royal Bank of Scotland at the event, some of whom have not entered their current roles in tech through traditional career paths.
For example, one speaker, Michaela, originally graduated with a degree in Classical Music but after spending time working in university recruitment and admissions, she decided to begin to study towards a Computing and IT degree with the Open University in her spare time. She now works in the bank’s Digital A.I. team as a technical analyst.
SKILLS GATEWAY
The skills gateway workshop will see students explore how the strengths, skills and interests they have and will develop at school will help them tackle challenges in their future workplaces, and get them to think about how to relate the jobs of the future to the challenges of the years to come.
The informal environment simulates a fun and innovative workplace, where people with different strengths and skills work collaboratively and creatively to share ideas and solve challenges.
To encourage teachers to work with their students on STEM subjects, Careers Hive is hosting a Teachers Afternoon on Friday 28 February between 1.30pm and 3.30pm at the National Museum of Scotland.
The afternoon is open to all teachers, with different sessions for primary and secondary educators.
