Unit 8 KS 2
Key Theme:
Beliefs in Action in the World (1)
Year 5
Spring Term
ABOUT THIS UNIT:
Work in this unit will enable children to explore Beliefs and Actions in the World (1) within Christianity
and Buddhism. It will introduce children to beliefs about the creation of the world and care for the
environment and will enable them to explore the meanings both in their own lives and within the lives of
Christians and Buddhists. It will also introduce children to some of the key areas/ strands of learning in
RE. This unit particularly focuses on Beliefs, Teachings and Sources and Values and Commitments.
The learning activities are designed to meet the learning needs of visual, oral and kinaesthetic learners.
Estimated time for this unit: 10 weeks
Focused Religions: Christianity and Buddhism
Where this unit fits in: Year 5 Spring Term Unit 8
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES (from the programmes of study)
AT1 a) describe the key aspects of religions, especially the people, stories and traditions which
influence belief and values
c) identify and begin to describe the similarities and differences within and between religions
AT2 b) respond to the challenges of commitment both in their own lives and within religious traditions,
recognizing how commitment to a religion is shown in a variety of ways
c) discuss their own and others’ views of religious truth and belief, expressing their own ideas
clearly
KEY STRANDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT
Beliefs, teachings and sources, and, Values and Commitments
LINKS TO THE EVERY CHILD MATTERS AGENDA
Being Healthy:
engage with challenging concepts and ideas in the philosophy of religion
consider how religions and beliefs respond to powerful questions of meaning
Staying Safe:
developing pupils’ learning about the diversity of religious and ethnic groups
Enjoyment and
Achievement:
promoting pupils’ own ideas and providing opportunities to explore and
reflect on key questions and values
Making a
Positive
Contribution:
considering rights and responsibilities for themselves, their
communities and within religious traditions
Achieving
Economic
Well-being:
considering spiritual issues such as the worth of humans and all
living species, including animals and plants
CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUPILS SPIRITUAL, MORAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Spiritual Development
• Discussing and reflecting upon key questions of meaning and truth such as the origins of the
universe
• Learning about and reflecting upon important concepts, experiences and beliefs which are at the
heart of religious and other traditions and practices
Moral Development
• Considering the importance of rights and responsibilities and developing a sense of conscience
Social Development
• Considering how religious and other beliefs lead to particular actions and concerns
Cultural Development
• Considering the relationship between religion and cultures and how religious beliefs contribute
to cultural identity and practice
KEY SKILLS
Reflection – Enquiry - Communication
KEY ATTITUDES
Respect for All:
Readiness to look at and learn from the positive potentialities of diversity and difference
Appreciation and Wonder:
Appreciating the sense of wonder at the world in which they live, and their response to questions of
meaning and purpose
Prior learning
Vocabulary
It is helpful if children have:
In this unit, children will have an
opportunity to use words and
phrases related to:
Resources
Myths
Creation
Environment
Interdependent
Compassion
Wisdon
Nearly all can: (at level 3 )
AT1
•
•
•
•
AT2
•
•
•
use a developing religious vocabulary to describe some key features of religions, recognizing
similarities and differences
make links between beliefs and sources, including religious stories and sacred texts
begin to identify the impact religion has on believers’ lives
describe some forms of religious expression.
identify what influences them, making links between aspects of their own and others’
experiences
ask important questions about religion and beliefs, making links between their own and
others’ responses
make links between values and commitments, and their own attitudes and behaviour.
Pupil friendly level descriptions: I can …..
•
describe some of the things that are the same and different for religious people.
Many can: (at level 4)
AT1
•
•
•
•
use a developing religious vocabulary to describe and show understanding of sources,
practices, beliefs, ideas, feelings and experiences
make links between them, and describe some similarities and differences both within and
between religions
describe the impact of religion on people’s lives
suggest meanings for a range of forms of religious expression.
Pupil friendly level descriptions: I can
• compare some of the things that influence me with those that influence other people.
AT2
•
•
•
raise and suggest answers to, questions of identity, belonging, meaning, purpose, truth,
values and commitments
apply their ideas to their own and other people’s lives
describe what inspires and influences themselves and others.
Pupil friendly level descriptions: I can ……
• compare some of the things that influence me with those that influence other people.
•
•
use religious language to describe and compare what practices and experiences may be
involved in belonging to different religious groups.
ask questions about who we are and where we belong, and suggest answers which refer to
people who have inspired and influenced myself and others.
Some children will have progressed further and can: (level 5)
AT1
•
use an increasingly wide religious vocabulary to explain the impact of beliefs on individuals
and communities
•
describe why people belong to religions
•
understand that similarities and differences illustrate distinctive beliefs within and between
religions and suggest possible reasons for this
•
explain how religious sources are used to provide answers to ultimate questions and ethical
issues, recognizing diversity in forms of religious, spiritual and moral expression, within and
between religions.
Pupil friendly level descriptions: I can …
•
suggest reasons for the variety of beliefs people hold, and explain how religious sources are
used to provide answers to important questions.
AT2
•
ask and suggest answers to questions of identity, belonging, meaning, purpose and truth,
values and commitments, relating them to their own and others’ lives
•
explain what inspires and influences them, expressing their own and others views on the
challenges of belonging to a religion.
Pupil friendly level descriptions: I can ……
•
ask questions about things that are important to me and to other people and suggest
answers which relate to my own and others’ lives.
Key questions
How was the world
created?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Pupils should learn:
Teaching and Learning Activities
•
to explore ideas and
beliefs of how the world
was created.
•
•
to engage with the
Biblical creation story
through drama
•
•
•
•
What beliefs do
Christians hold
about the creation
of the world?
•
to practise and perform
the drama of creation
•
•
•
Give the class a few minutes
thinking time in which they
are asked to reflect on how
the world came into being.
Discuss the children’s ideas.
Explain that people all over
the world have stories which
try to answer these puzzling
questions of life. These
could be researched.
Read the creation story
found in Genesis chapter 1,
accompanied by background
music.
Divide the class into 7
groups and allocate each
group one of the days of
creation. Ask each group to
create a 2 minute
mime/dance/ drama (visual
portrayal) to explain their day
of creation.
Revisit the story of creation
found in Genesis chapter
one
Allow the children time to
practise their interpretations
of the text
Perform cameos of each day
of creation (The same
background music used in
the previous lesson could be
used as a background for
their performances.)
Assessment Opportunities
Interpretations expressed in
drama
Video the drama/dance/mime
created or take digital
photographs
Links / points to note
Key questions
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Pupils should learn:
Teaching and Learning Activities
•
•
•
Explain to the class that not
all Christians hold the same
beliefs about the creation of
the world e.g. Some
Christians take the story
literally, others interpret the
days of creation as periods
of time in history and others
regard the story as myth.
Ask children to reflect upon
their interpretation of the
story and how/if it reflected
their beliefs.
Children could write an
explanation of their cameo to
be displayed with digital
photographs, for example.
Assessment Opportunities
Writing to support their
interpretation of the story.
FOUR SESSIONS
What other stories
explain the creation
of the world?
•
to explore their own and
others beliefs/explanation of
how the world was created
•
Complete the ‘Island Project’,
firstly by considering
additional creation stories
and then by creating an
island of their own.
•
How do Christians beliefs
about the creation of the
world affect the way they
live?
This task can also serve as a
focussed assessment task by
setting clear expectations
which enable the children to
reach the appropriate level of
attainment.
Links / points to note
Key questions
What do Buddhists
believe about the
environment?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Pupils should learn:
• that everything is linked
“interdependent”.
• that certain actions follow, e.g.
not harming, (respect)
compassion and wisdom.
How do Buddhists
act?
Teaching and Learning Activities
Assessment Opportunities
• Guide the children through a
reflection on “Everything is
linked”. See Appendix 1 with
further teaching and learning
activities.
•
Invite the children to
select something that they
have eaten today, e.g. a
banana, chocolate bar or
breakfast cereal
• Buddhists believe that
everything is linked together in
the “web of life”.
•
Explore the links involved
in bringing that food to
them.
• The key teaching point and
Buddhist insight is to see that
nothing stands alone.
Everything is in a complex web
of relationships. Everything is
interdependent.
•
•
•
•
•
Return to the tree example.
Buddhists teach that we should
respect nature and not seek to
destroy these webs of
relationships.
This extends to all creatures
whether human or animal. One
should act wisely and
compassionately.
See Appendix 2 for a further
reflection. Children can look-up
the meaning of compassion and
wisdom. Discuss in groups.
Devise a short set of guidelines
about how to live without
harming nature and others. Use
compassion and wisdom to
guide.
These activities could be linked
to responsibilities with school or
home for action around
recycling, looking after the
environment etc.
Trace all the growing,
manufacture and travel of
the food. Children can
illustrate this on large
sheets of paper.
Links / points to note
• For background
understanding teachers may
wish to explore a number of
websites via Google, under:
“Buddhism and the
environment”.
• Buddhists tend not to focus
on God as Creator of the
world.
The world-nature-the
environment is seen more as
a given that we need to
understand, appreciate and
learn from.
Key questions
What has this
got to do with
me?
Follow lesson
plans from
Festival
Matters Y4Easter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Pupils should learn:
•
to see themselves as
part of the chain of
interdependence.
•
that what I do has effects
on others.
•
what Buddhist believe
about how to act.
Teaching and Learning Activities
•
In small groups, of ten, using a
small net or table cloth
demonstrate how, with
everyone holding a piece of the
outstretched net, a gentle pull
on one side is felt on the other.
•
Invite the group to experience
this and what this means and
might say about our family,
school, community, country,
world.
•
The key insight is to see that
because we are all linked we
need to act with compassion
and wisdom.
•
Children can discuss whether
we can ever say that, “what I do
does not affect others.”
•
To improve the school or
classroom environment children
can make their own Prayer
flags, with messages (and
designs) for all the world.
Assessment Opportunities
•
Links / points to note
Children can summarize
what they have learnt
about how Buddhists live
and act.
Compare with Christian
approaches.
•
Tibetan prayer flags can
be printed on large
strips of coloured
material, tied to flag
poles outside, or on
large sheets of coloured
paper strung across the
classroom.
•
Buddhists believe that
your Prayers and
wishes are carried by
the wind to all corners of
the earth.
APPENDIX 1
Reflection “Everything is Linked” (Interdependent)
As with all quiet times, the setting, atmosphere and skills of the teacher are paramount.
This particular exercise is best done outside sitting under a tree but can be done in the
classroom too!
Having created a period of stillness ask the children to reflect on the following without
asking questions until the exercise is over. It could take a minute or ten minutes,
according to the ‘feel’ of the experience. Pause along the way where you feel it is
appropriate:
“We are going to be still for a few minutes and I want you to think about what I am going
to say:
This tree (or think of a tree you know or need to get to know!) has been here for many
years… It grows here, quietly, surely, almost unnoticed… It is watered by the rain,
warmed by the sun and sometimes chilled by the frost and snow. It is also blown to and
fro by strong winds, which it has survived and probably is the stronger for.
It is fed by many things in the earth… drawn up by its roots. This tree is also home to
thousands, if not millions, of tiny bugs and creatures that live here also quietly, surely
almost unnoticed.
This tree is here because many other things make it possible, like the sun and rain. All
these things – linked together like a chain, make it possible for us to enjoy this tree at
this moment.
In turn, the tree itself makes lots of other things happen too. It is home to all those
creatures… and the tree also helps create good, clean air for us on this planet earth.
This tree is very important and linked together with so many other things in the world…”
At the close of the exercise, allow a little time to re-adjust, especially if the children have
entered into the reflection in silence and with eyes closed.
The teacher can then explore questions. Ask the children to write a piece of creative
writing in response to the exercise. Devise a piece of drama or draw a picture to
illustrate their feelings and thoughts. How can we act to help and preserve the tree?
What might harm the tree and thereby upset the complex web of things that are linked to
it?
In what ways can we act to help and preserve this tree or through thoughtless actions
act in ways that harm this tree?
APPENDIX 2
Reflection “Everyone is Like Me!”
Prepare for the reflection as outlined in Appendix 1
Think about what you want and what you do not want… Just as I want to be happy and not sad, cared for
and loved, so too does everyone else. Whether my family, relatives or friends, everyone wants to be happy.
Even those I don’t particularly like or get on with, they also just want to be happy. The people who live
around us here. People who I do not know – people, in fact, all over the world – no one wants to be
unhappy, everyone wants to be happy. We all have this in common – all linked together.
Even the animals – our pets, wild animals, large and small – all want to be happy, none of them like to be
hurt or treated cruelly.
All beings wish for happiness.
Just like me… everyone wants to be happy.
(“May all beings find happiness and be free from unhappiness”
A Buddhist prayer)
THE ISLAND PROJECT
THE ISLAND PROJECT (1)
A
In the beginning the world was all marshy and water, a waste place. Above it was the sky where
Ol-orun, the owner of the sky lived with other gods ……The gods came down sometimes to play
in the marshy waste, coming down spider’s webs which hung across great gaps like fairy bridges.
But there were no people yet, for there was no solid ground. One day Ol-orun called the chief of
the gods into his presence. He told him that he wanted to create firm ground and ask him to set
about the task. The Great God was given a snail shell in which there was some loose earth, a
pigeon and a hen with five toes. He came down to the marsh and threw the earth from the snail
shell into a small place. Then he put the pigeon and the hen on the earth, and they started to
scratch and scatter it about. Before long, they had covered much of the marsh and solid ground
was formed. When Great God went back to report to Ol-orun the latter sent a chameleon to
inspect the work. After a first inspection the chameleon reported that the earth was wide but not
dry enough. Then he was sent again, and this time he said it was both wide and dry. The place
where creation began was called Ife, meaning wide, and later the world Ile meaning house was
added, to show that it was the house from which all other earthly dwellings have originated.
B
Before the land rose out of the waters at the beginning of the world, Ra the Shining One came
into being. He was all powerful, and the secret of his power lay in his name which he has hidden
from all the world. Having this power, he had only to name a thing, and that too came into being.
“I am Khepera at the dawn, and Ra at noon, and Tum in the evening” – and as he said it, behold
he was the sun rising in the east, passing across they sky and setting in the west. And this was
the first day of the world. When he named Shu, the wind blew. The rain fell when he named
Tufnut, the spitter. After this he spoke the name of Geb and the earth rose above the waters of
the sea. He cried “Nut!” – and that goddess was the arch of the sky stretching over the earth with
her feet on one horizon and her hands on the other. Then named Hapi, the sacred river. The river
by the land was to make it fruitful. Then Ra went on to name all things on earth, which grew into
being at his word. Last of all he spoke the words for man and woman, and soon there were
people dwelling throughout the land. After this Ra himself took on the shape of a man and
became the first king. For thousands of years he reigned over the land, and there was peace and
plenty. The Nile rose each year and flooded the fields; then it sank back into its channel, leaving
the rich coating of mud which made sure of fine crops as the cool spring turned into the baking
summer.
C
Everything was water as far as the eye could see. Above the water rose the tree Eri-Ramula.
Then a worm was born in the tree, it began to eat the wood. The dust fell into the water, year after
year, until slowly the world was formed. Then at last the tree fell to the ground. The bark on the
lower side of the trunk became the skin of the world; the bark on the other side became the sky.
The trunk turned into rock. The branches became hills.
D
The Universe is round, and the earth floats inside it. At its beginning the divine serpent carried
god here and there in its mouth. The mountains appeared where they stopped at night to rest;
they created everything between them. Yet all the waters that God made stood still. So the divine
serpent etched out the courses of the rivers and the beds of the streams; when they began to
flow, the earth began to live. Then God said “Hold the earth together”. So the serpent coiled
himself around it, made it firm, and it has remained so. Yet the serpent coils and uncoils himself.
His motion turns out world and sets the planets turning. He moves in quiet pools and running
streams, he is the endless tides of the seas, he is the flash of light across the water.
In the beginning human beings lived in the sky and imagined nothing else. But one day their
chief’s daughter fell ill. No one knew what was wrong with her, no one could cure her, she lay and
suffered day and night. At length the wise old man of the tribe dreamed a strange dream. He
came to the people the next day and said, “We must bury the chief’s daughter near the great tree
that stands by his lodge. Then we must dig it up. The spirit has told me in my dream”. The people
murmured for that tree gave them food to eat in the winter when they were hungry. Nonetheless
they did exactly as the old man said, carrying the girl there and laying her down, then setting
themselves to dig up the great tree.
It fell with a crash, its roots in the air, leaving a huge hole where it had been, into which fell the girl
who had been lying there asleep. The girl grabbed at the roots of the tree to save herself. She
dragged the tree down with her, through the hole, down, down, and down they fell; and nothing
met them far below but an endless, endless ocean on which swam water fouls of every kind.
Swans, plovers and ducks. These saw her fall and took pity on her. Linking themselves together
they made a platform of bone and feather on which she landed, though the tree sank straight to
the bottom of the sea. “She is much too beautiful to drown”, the birds said. “But she is much too
heavy a burden for us to bear for very long. Who will carry her now ?” “I will” said the Great Turtle,
and took her on his back at once. Then he said, “This will bring good fortune to our people. We
must make the woman a resting place that will last her for ever and that will be big enough to
carry all other creatures who may join her there. You saw the tree that fell with her, the earth still
clinging to its roots. One of you must dive to the bottom of the sea and bring some of the earth to
me”. All the water birds and creatures heard him. But the sea was not only wide, but deep. Otter,
muskrat and beaver dived in turn, none of them could reach the bottom. As each of them reemerged on the surface of the sea he rolled over and died from sheer exhaustion. At last toad
said, “Now I will try”, but he was gone so long that the others peering down into the depths of the
sea and seeing no sign of him thought him lost. At last, slowly, he swam upwards and appeared
among the waves around them. He too was so weary he could hardly croak, he rolled over and
died at once. But his mouth had fallen open and in it there was a little speck of earth and this the
turtle told them to place on his back. Which they did. Being magic earth it spread and spread
onwards until it had made a whole earth. Yet darkness covered it. The animals gathered together
again to consider the problem. A lamp was needed, they thought, a Great Lamp placed high up in
the sky, high enough to fill the whole earth with light. But none of them knew how to make such a
light or how to take it to the sky, or so they said, until the great turtle called the little turtle and she
said she might possibly manage to climbed the steep and dangerous road into the sky. All the
other animals joined their magic to help her. They caused a great black cloud to form and in it
were many rocks, which clashing together filled the sky with flashes of lightning. As soon as she
saw these the little turtle climbed into the cloud and rode around in it, all over the sky, seizing
each lightening flash that passed until she had enough of them to make a golden burning ball,
bigger than she was, and this she threw with all her might higher and higher into the sky. And
there it stood, the sun. And when the cloud moved on again, she gathered enough lightning to
make another ball, a smaller paler one, which in its turn she threw above her head and that one
made the moon. “It is good”, the great turtle said, “now the earth has day”. Then he sent the
burrowing animals to make holes in the corners of the sky, so that the sun and moon would be
able to circle the earth, descending through one hole and rising up again through the other.
F Long ago, there was a time when neither heaven or earth existed. Everything was in darkness,
confused, unformed and un-separated. All the makings of the universe were trapped inside a
single egg. Within this yolk of chaos grew a giant. He was called Pan Ku.
After many thousands of years, Pan Ku became too large for the egg. The shell cracked and
shattered. All the makings of the universe escaped. The light elements floated upwards to make
the glittering heavens. His feet pressed down upon the earth. He grew and grew. Each day the
heavens were nudged a little higher and the earth thickened beneath his feet. For eighteen
thousand ages Pan Ku grew. He was like a great pillar holding the heaven and the earth apart
until they became stable and secure. Eventually, Pan Ku died. His body collapsed and began to
change. His breath was released and became the breeze, winds and clouds. His voice became
the roar of the thunder. Both his eyes were transformed. The right eye rose as the moon in the
sky, his left eye became the sun. Pan Ku’s four limbs and body became the four corners of the
world, the mountains, hills and valleys. His blood turned into the rivers and gave life to the fields
and meadows, which were his skin. The silver hairs of his head became the stars. The hairs on
his body became the many grasses, trees and flowers. Pan Ku’s teeth and bones became the
rocks and minerals in the soil. His sweat fell as the rain and the dew in the morning. All the tiny
mites on his body became the living creatures of the world. So Pan Ku was the ancestor of the
universe. It was he who made the heavens beautiful and the earth flourish.
G
In the beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and
void, with darkness over the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind which swept over the surface of
the waters. God said, “Let there be light” and there was light; and God saw that the light was
good, and he separated light from darkness. He called the light day and the darkness night. So
evening came and morning came, the first day. God said, “Let there be a vault between the
waters, to separate water from water”. So God made the vault, and separated the water under the
vault from the water above it, and so it was; and God called the vault heaven. Evening came and
morning came, a second day. God said, “Let the waters under heaven be gathered into one
place, so that dry land may appear”. And so it was. God called the dry land earth, and the
gathering of the water he called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “let the
earth produce fresh growth, let there be on the earth plants bearing seed, fruit trees bearing fruit
each with seed according to its kind”. So it was; the earth yielded fresh growth, plants bearing
seed according to their kind and trees bearing fruit each with seed according to its kind; and God
saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning came, a third day. God said, “Let there be
lights in the vault of heaven to separate day from night, and let them serve as signs both for
festivals and for seasons and for years. Let them also shine in the vault of heaven to give light on
earth.” So it was; God made two great lights, the greater to govern the day and the lesser to
govern the night; and with them he made the stars. Evening came, and morning came, a fourth
day.
A African
B Egyptian
C Australian Aborigine
D Scandanavia (Norse-Viking)
E Algonquin Indians N. America
F Chinese
G Jewish/Christian
FORMATIVE GRID
Something beautiful in
our world is
……………………………
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When I hear the word
environment I think of
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A real problem
facing our world is
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Many christians believe
the world began by
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BELIEFS IN
ACTION IN THE
WORLD (1)
Something in our world I
would like to change is
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I think the world began
by
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SUMMATIVE GRID
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SUMMATIVE
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