Looking for a career path? Think oil and gas!

Author: jhook; Published: May 23, 2013; Category: Energy Education, Engineering Careers, Science; Tags: None; Comments: Comments Off

In “Resources Work: Careers in Mining, Oil, and Gas,” jobs in the fossil fuels industry are outlined by description, salary, and even how much school you need to qualify. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics published the article in the Spring 2013 edition of Occupational Outlook Quarterly, a great resource when looking for career guidance.

Did you know that geoscientists and petroleum engineers have a median salary of around $120,000, with only a Bachelor’s degree? Or that drill and derrick operators can make around $50,000 with just a high school education? Oil and gas careers have the highest starting salaries compared to other industries, according to a study done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. 

 

 

With the increased retirements of current workers, the job prospects are numerous! Links to industry contacts for specific careers are listed at the end of the article, including Energy4me!  Check out the full online version!

For future and archived editions of Occupational Outlook Quarterly, visit their homepage HERE!

Energy4me has even more industry career descriptions, plus ways to get scholarships HERE! 

Join the conversation on Facebook— www.Facebook.com/Energy4me. You can also connect with us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Energy4me!

 

Energy4me in Kazakhstan!

Author: jhook; Published: May 16, 2013; Category: Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy Education, Uncategorized; Tags: Classroom Instruction, Education, Speaker, STEM; Comments: Comments Off

When her 8-year-old son asked, “how do you make gasoline?” Aizhana, a reservoir engineer, decided it was time to get involved in energy education. Aizhana and her colleagues recently visited her son’s 3rd grade class in Astana, Kazakhstan to talk all about energy! Using some of the Energy4me presentation materials and their own demo activities, she explains, “we were trying to show them how oil is being produced. We got decorative beads, poured some coffee (oil) into the porous space. Then drilled a well with a straw and started pumping oil out of the ground.”

Here’s a small article she wrote for a local newsletter on her experience -

How would you answer these questions: “Have you ever found diamonds when drilled a well?” or “When you bring a lot of oil to the platform, how do you keep it stable?” Now, if I tell you that those are the questions asked by 8-9 years old kids, would you change or paraphrase your answer? You probably would. This is exactly what me and my colleague, Ilyas, faced when we went to my son’s class to teach a lesson on energy to 3^rd graders.

The idea to go to school and teach the kids on energy came to me at the gas station. We went to fill up the tank and my son asked: “Why are you buying gasoline?  Aren’t you making it?” I started explaining what I do and how gasoline is being made, but later I thought: “What if I go to school and educate the whole class, not only my son?” I remembered, that Society of Petroleum Engineers has a program called “Energy4me.” I contacted them and came up to the slides for the talk. My colleagues got excited about this idea as well and we decided to “test” it on my son’s class and later develop a program under SPE umbrella.

So, on April 18 me, Ilyas, and one other colleague Irina went to school ready to give a presentation and demonstrate the experiment on oil production. We dressed up in coveralls, hard hat and safety glasses to create a field environment. Kids were asking all kinds of questions and stayed engaged all the time. When preparing for the lesson we were thinking about the experiment: what and how to show? One little detail that was bothering me was what we were going to use as oil. We had a lot of ideas; we wanted it to be more or less realistic in color but at the same time relatively safe. At the end of the day we picked coffee. What do you think happened when the kids came closer to look/perform the experiment? That was really funny, when they said surprisingly: “It smells like coffee!”  There were a number of interesting moments during the class. We had a very good time!

You know what was the most rewarding thing for me? That night my son came to me and said: “You are the smartest mom in the World!” I almost cried. 

Aizhana and her colleagues already have another presentation lined up, and plan to expand their outreach into Russian language and other Kazakh schools next year. Thanks for sharing Aizhana! If you would also like to share your classroom presentation experiences with Energy4me, contact us!

Teachers: Want more information about how you can request a classroom presentation? Visit our classroom resources page here!

Volunteers: Interesting in presenting to a classroom? Visit here for more information!

 

 

Students, Educators Get an Up-Close Look at Technology and More at OTC!

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: May 13, 2013; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Energy Education; Tags: Classroom Instruction, energy education, STEM, students, Teachers; Comments: Comments Off

The 2013 Offshore Technology Conference hosted 11 Houston-area high school groups as part of the Energy Education Institute on 9 May! About 250 students and teachers escaped from the classroom for the day to explore offshore technology through activities facilitated by our friends at the NEED Project. Groups modeled the challenges of  “Getting the Oil out” at different depths through artificial lift. Using straws and sponges, students were able to explain why perforated well casings can produce more petroleum or natural gas in horizontal drilling than ones without holes. These activities and more are available in the NEED Project’s “Exploring Oil and Gas” curriculum guide. (http://need.org/needpdf/ExploringOilandGas.pdf)

 

Industry tour guides took the students and teachers to the expansive OTC exhibit halls to discover the future of offshore technology. Many of the exhibitors shared presentations of their products by letting students climb in submersible vehicles, view 3D models of rigs, and interact with state-of-the-art simulations of the offshore drilling process. OTC recognizes the importance of engaging students in the opportunities of offshore energy careers, because they are the future of the industry!

Thanks to generous sponsorships of BP and ExxonMobil, both the student and teachers workshops were complimentary. If you missed out this year, check back for applications to the OTC 2014 Energy Education Institute!

Interested in attending a like workshop? Send us a note to energyed@spe.org

Join the conversation on Facebook— www.Facebook.com/Energy4me. You can also connect with us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Energy4me!

Explaining Science With Ten Hundred Words!

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Apr 26, 2013; Category: Energy, Energy Education; Tags: energy education, STEM, Technology; Comments: Comments Off

 

Ask an engineer what they do for a living and sometimes you’ll get a mouthful of jargon and very little understanding of what he or she actually studies.

That’s where the “Ten Hundred Words of Science” challenge comes in. Inspired by internet comic artist Randall Munroe, who recently used only the 1,000 most common words in the English language to describe the Saturn V rocket, scientists from every field are now experimenting with this limited word list to explain their own work.

Go HERE to view parse impenetrable scientific terminology into everyday language when describing complex science!

One example is the web comic panel “The Up-Goer Five” shown as a snapshot below. In this annotated blueprint, he describes each piece of the complex rocket that took American astronauts to the moon, eliminating complicated technical terms in favor of explanations everyone can understand.

Cool stuff!

Join the conversation on Facebook— www.Facebook.com/Energy4me. You can also connect with us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Energy4me!

Six Reasons to Invest in Better STEM Education

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Apr 18, 2013; Category: Classroom materials, Energy Education; Tags: energy education, STEM, students, Teachers; Comments: Comments Off

 

Check out this infographic we found courtesy of EDTECH! It demonstrates the importance of K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction. Furthermore, the infographic illustrates how a firm math and technology-based education can improve students’ long-term job and career prospects.

Looking to make the case for better STEM investment in your school or district? Make the case visually with the following six reasons why every school should make STEM education a priority.

Join the conversation on Facebook— www.Facebook.com/Energy4me. You can also connect with us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Energy4me!