The Free Career Curriculum from Amazon Future Engineer That Inspires Students and Teachers Alike

You know that look when students learn about a job they love? They feel something click: I wanna do that! There’s no doubt that hearing from working professionals can help kids envision their future. But just how impactful is that experience? And how can we use research to improve our students’ odds of building futures they believe in?

Our partners at Amazon Future Engineer put their research into practice by creating Career Tours — free, standards-aligned curricular resources for 3rd–10th grade classes that connect what students are learning in the classroom with real world careers. 

While funds last, teachers who complete a Career Tour through Kahoot! with 20 or more students and fill out a short survey can earn $100 in DonorsChoose funding, thanks to Amazon Future Engineer! Keep reading to hear from three of the hundreds of teachers who’ve already tapped into these career readiness tools, and check available funding.

Research shows what teachers know — access to STEM careers isn’t yet equal

When Amazon Future Engineer and Gallup partnered to create the Careers of the Future Index, their research revealed that, across industries and education levels, STEM careers consistently rank high when it comes to income, job availability, job growth, and resistance to automation. Making sure all students understand the STEM careers available to them is crucial to giving them as many opportunities for success as possible.

But their research also revealed a roadblock. While computer science skills are among the most sought-after in the U.S. job market, many students — especially those with identities that are underrepresented in STEM — lack computer science learning opportunities in school and don’t see many role models who look like them thriving in STEM fields. 

Amazon Future Engineer discovered, down to the data point, that if we want our students to make informed career decisions, we need to help them envision their future.

Connecting students with real-world jobs, right from the classroom

Amazon Future Engineer set out to create a free curricular resource for 3rd–10th grade classes that connects what students are learning in the classroom with real-world careers. The result: Career Tours, a virtual set of field trips that inspire students to pursue careers of the future by exploring Amazon’s technologies. 

Students can dive into what it takes to write, produce, and release a song on streaming channels through Amazon Music; discover how pharmacists and engineers work together with robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning through Amazon Pharmacy; and even explore the technology on the Orion spacecraft in NASA’s Artemis I flight test. Each career tour highlights the diverse under-sung heroes of STEM careers and includes a full lesson plan for easy classroom adoption. Lesson plans are standards aligned, bringing key knowledge off the page. 

Teachers — and students — are buzzing about Career Tours

Amazon Future Engineer was confident Career Tours would meet a real classroom need and teachers agree! We’ve been thrilled to see that 95% of participating teachers feel satisfied or extremely satisfied with the Career Tour experience.

“Students are amazed by the various career options associated with a simple song,” says Ms. Xu, a high school teacher in Fresh Meadows, NY who took her class on a field trip into the world of music production. “The breakdown of each step in music production really shows students the unique and specific skill sets that exist.”

Mr. Ugalde, an elementary school teacher in San Jose, CA, found a similar response in his students after a virtual field trip through the Amazon Fulfillment Center. “The classroom is buzzing with discussions on how our robots, like the ones at Amazon, can be programmed to navigate and search for items, creating an atmosphere of excitement and inspiration.”

Career Tours can also help answer questions and solve misconceptions that young learners may have about various fields. With movies like Big Hero 6 and M3GAN popular among her middle school class, Ms. Novak found that her students felt worried about the future of AI. “Understanding the process [through Career Tours] made them so much more confident,” she says. 

Teachers’ feedback makes it clear: that connecting students with real-world experiences helps them feel excited about building their futures. We’re so grateful to be working with partners like Amazon Future Engineer and Gallup that are as dedicated as we are to getting teachers the tools they need!

Take your students on a Career Tour today

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