Inspirational Careers Free STEM Resources for Teachers

Welcome to our social impact project. These free, curriculum-aligned, downloadable resources are easy to access for all early childhood teachers, especially those in rural, remote and disadvantaged schools.

The Redraw the Balance project (watch the video) showed how young children assign gender to careers by age seven, and the impact of challenging these stereotypes through school visits.

But a visit happens once, in one classroom. These resources put the same conversation in every teacher's hands, in any classroom.

How to complete your own classroom exercise:

This simple 3-step exercise is the best way to see the program's impact on your students:

  1. DRAW (Before the Lesson): Download and give your students the "Draw an Astronaut" sheet. Collect these first drawings. Download and enter your data in the "Teacher Data Collection Sheet".
  2. SEE (The Lesson): Use the picture book, videos, and activities from the toolkit with your class over your lesson(s) or unit.
  3. REDRAW (After the Lesson): At the end of the lesson(s) or week(s), give them a new "Draw an Astronaut" sheet. Collect these second drawings. Enter your data into your previous "Teacher Data Collection Sheet".

Core Classroom Downloads

Click to download. Safe PDF to use on your school's network.

1. "Draw an Astronaut" Student Worksheet (PDF)

2. "Teacher Data Collection Sheet" (PDF)

3. "When I'm an Astronaut" STEM Resource for Teachers (PDF)

The Two Books

Email us, and we will send you free PDF copies of both books. Please include the name of your school, or if you home educate, your home school or family name.
These resources are free to use in your classroom or home, and must not be resold or shared for distribution beyond your own students.

4. "When I'm an Astronaut" Picture Book (PDF)

5. "When I'm an Astronaut" Activity Book (Full PDF)

[Email us at contact@samanthapillay.com to request the books] 

6.  Active Learning Alternatives (PDF)

Screen-free, movement-based versions of the written activities, for children who learn better by doing than by writing and for classes with lower literacy. Swap any worksheet for its active version. A mat-time talking circle instead of writing, a classroom scavenger hunt for the survival activity, freeze-frame poses for emotions, and a floor-grid version of the coding task.

7. Curriculum Alignment Guide (v9.0) (PDF)

Every activity mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0, activity by activity, across English, Science, Maths, Health and Physical Education, and Technologies. Use it to see exactly which outcomes each activity covers, so the resource slots into your existing plan and you can report against it.

8. Teacher Background and Differentiation Guide (PDF)

Plain-English background on the science behind the astronaut activities, with ways to make each task easier or harder to suit your class. You do not need a science background to teach this. The guide explains the concepts simply and gives support-and-extend options for every activity.

9. Mission Steps: Unplugged Coding Activity (PDF)

A screen-free coding challenge. Children write step-by-step instructions to guide an astronaut across a map, then test their steps and fix what does not work. It builds early computational thinking, sequencing, and problem-solving without devices. A ready-to-print student sheet is included.

The mission map is built into the activity. You can also download it separately to show on your board or print it larger. The colour version is suitable for screens and colour printing. The black and white version is made for easy, low-ink printing.

Video & Audio Resources

The AI-animated music video of When I'm an Astronaut won Best Creative AI at the Australian XR Festival 2024.  Play it for your class below, watch it on YouTube and Vimeo, or listen on Spotify. Download the Movie Poster. 

You are welcome to embed the music video on your own school or class website.

Visit AIFilm4Good, the world's first AI film studio for social impact, to see the full list of tools used to create the music and video.

What's Next?

Did you and your students enjoy these resources? Please let us know at contact@samanthapillay.com

 

Warmly,

Dr Samantha Pillay OAM 

Author, Inspirational Careers for Kids 

Founder, AIFilm4Good