BACKGROUND This session is a good way for children to look at which things religions have in common and which things set them apart. If we don’t know much about another religion it is easy to make the mistake of assuming that its followers do the same as us or that what they do is completely different when actually the differences are s...

BACKGROUND The story of Prince Gautama, a prince who left his palace to become The Buddha (meaning Enlightened One) is central to the Buddhist tradition. In this session, we focus on the main story without going into the teachings of Buddhism. So you could use it as a stimulus for thought on these issues without even mentioning Buddhism, but ...

INTRODUCTION Buddhism has several distinctive features. One of these is the rejection of the world. The everyday world we move about in is, for the Buddhist, a distraction. If we are too attached to it, we will always be caught up in suffering. Although this rejection of the world can be found in other religions too, for Buddhism it is the ce...

STIMULUS There was once a poor farmer. He was always struggling to get enough food. One winter, he was left with just one chicken. If the chicken laid an egg the farmer would eat that day, and if it didn’t, he went hungry. Desperate, he went to a neighbour who was very religious and asked for advice. The neighbour told him: ‘Do...

By Tim Beardmore-Gray Background to session This enquiry was written for a Yr5 class that had lead a previous enquiry into exploring the EQ: “What features would a robot have to have in order to be a real human?” They had expressed a desire to explore this further the following week. Engagement was a given and we could dive qui...

* Please refer to attached image Looking Is it a man, woman, girl or boy? Is the painting bright or dark? Are there any objects that are moving in the painting? What is the person in the painting looking at? Why is the person looking intense or relaxed? Are there any surprises in the picture? ...

Designed by Melina Lafirenze This enquiry was written as an extension activity for the Republic Island enquiry (from The If Machine) but it was easily long enough for a full session and could possibly run over two sessions for younger groups. Stimulus On the island there is a lake full of fish. Though they are plentiful the fish are rea...

The Philosophy The question philosophers are interested in when it comes to time travel stories is whether or not time travel is possible. There are two sides to this question: the scientific and the logical. The scientific side is about whether the technology will one day allow for time travel, in the same way that technology has allowed for...

* Please refer to attached image Doing Ask the learners to get into pairs and take ten selfies on their phones or on school tablets. When they are finished ask them to pick one form the ten to share with the group. Doing Question: Which selfie did you chose and why? Next show them a selfie alongside Vincent Van Gou...