Career Quest: Community Heroes

Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

Students will be able to investigate community careers through plaza observations, pop-up experiences, and interviews to gather evidence about tools, tasks, training, and community impact.

Students will be able to organize career information from multiple sources by comparing tools, tasks, training, and community impact across local jobs.

Students will be able to ask respectful interview questions and listen actively to community partners in order to build collaborative discussions about careers.

Students will be able to define a simple design problem connected to a community career need with clear criteria and constraints on materials, time, and cost.

Students will be able to generate and compare multiple prototype ideas for a career-related solution based on how well each meets user needs and design criteria.

Students will be able to test and revise simple models or prototypes using feedback from peers and community partners to improve how well the design works for users.

Students will be able to create and present a multimedia career showcase that explains what they learned, how their ideas changed, and how their design connects to community needs.

Products

individual

Career Research Portfolio and Individual Prototype Page

Each student creates a research-based portfolio page with interview notes, career comparison evidence, sketches, and one revised prototype idea. The page shows how firsthand user evidence shaped the student’s design thinking and explains the next step for testing the idea.

team

Community Career Showcase Poster and Collaborative Prototype Display

Teams create a shared problem statement and a higher-fidelity prototype or service model that can be tested with classmates or community partners. The display includes evidence from individual research, comparison of solution options, and a short presentation explaining how user needs guided the final design.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
Deeper Learning Competencies	Effective Communication	I can take turns and listen respectfully during short, teacher-led conversations about community careers, and I can share one clear idea or question using sentence starters (e.g., “I noticed…,” “I wonder…,” “Can you tell me more about…”).	I can participate in small-group discussions by building on others’ ideas, asking follow-up questions, and sharing my observations using evidence from my notes, sketches, or interview facts (with help when needed).	I can communicate my learning clearly across formats—writing notes, speaking in rehearsals, and using simple visuals/audio—so others understand how a worker’s tools, tasks, training, and community impact connect to my future paths.	I can lead and refine communication by asking specific, thoughtful questions, citing relevant evidence during critique using “because” statements, and presenting with appropriate multimedia so my revised ideas are understandable to different audiences at the showcase.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Critical Thinking & Problem Solving	I can ask focused questions and gather information from at least two sources (e.g., plaza notes, pop-up demonstrations, or partner interviews) and I can tell how the information helps explain a community career and its impact.	I can combine information from several sources to describe how tools, tasks, teamwork, and problem-solving connect to a real community need, and I can explain my claim using evidence from my notes or sketches.	I can define a simple design problem with clear criteria for success (and constraints like time or materials), generate and compare at least two solution ideas, and explain which option best fits the criteria using evidence.	I can test two models or procedures, collect and compare results, and revise my prototype or plan based on peer critique and evidence; I can clearly explain how my thinking improved and how my design helps meet the community need.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Collaboration	I can participate respectfully in group discussions by listening, taking turns, and sharing my ideas about community jobs and tools in simple, clear words.	I can build on my teammates’ ideas during group work by asking respectful questions, summarizing what I heard, and taking shared notes or roles so our group task moves forward.	I can collaborate with partners to improve our project by contributing evidence from observations or partner demos, using peer feedback to revise plans or prototypes, and clearly explaining my part to the group.	I can lead collaboration by helping the group make decisions, resolve disagreements respectfully, and use specific evidence to give and receive critique while adjusting our prototype and presentation to better meet our criteria and constraints.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Content Expertise	I can gather notes and sketches from at least two community sources (e.g., plaza observations and a job pop-up) and sort what I learn into categories like tools, tasks, training, and community impact.	I can conduct a short research project by using multiple sources (notes, sketches, and interviews) to describe how a specific community job uses science ideas and protects Earth’s resources, with key details from my evidence.	I can strengthen my research and communication by combining evidence from several sources to make clear comparisons between at least two careers (tools, tasks, training, and community impact) and I can revise my writing or slides based on feedback.	I can apply what I learn to design and explain a small prototype by defining a design problem with criteria/constraints, testing two versions, and using evidence to justify my final choice in a multimedia presentation or gallery display.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Self Directed Learning	I can use a project checklist and teacher prompts to plan what I will do next, keep my notes organized in my portfolio, and name what I am working on during work time.	I can set a simple goal for my research/design (tools, tasks, training, and community impact), choose which notes or sketches to add to my portfolio, and use feedback from peers/partners to make clear improvements.	I can independently manage my learning by tracking my progress toward criteria for success, combining information from multiple sources (plaza, pop-up, and interviews), and revising my work based on specific evidence-based critique.	I can direct my own learning by selecting strategies to strengthen my writing, sketches, and prototype, comparing options to meet constraints, testing/adjusting when needed, and explaining how and why my ideas changed over time using portfolio evidence.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Academic Mindset	I can notice how my community learning experiences connect to careers and future paths by naming what I observed and asking at least one respectful question that helps me understand tools, tasks, training, or community impact I can explain how my thinking changed a little after a plaza observation, pop-up, or interview.	I can track how I learn during the project by using notes, sketches, and source information from more than one experience to improve my ideas about future paths I can revise my writing or prototype plan after feedback by explaining what I kept, changed, and why using evidence from my research or tests.	I can direct my learning by setting goals for what I will investigate next (e.g., a tool or skill) and choosing relevant information to update my career comparison I can strengthen my work by giving and receiving critique with specific, evidence-based comments or questions, then applying that feedback to improve my revised prototype or poster.	I can independently synthesize information from multiple sources to make a clear, well-supported connection between career skills and my own future path I can monitor my progress across revisions by describing my reasoning, including criteria for success and results from model testing, and I can clearly state the next step I want to explore based on my evidence.