The Philosophy This is one of a themed number of sessions on personal identity. In this session the children will consider, philosophically, a familiar device used in many science-fiction stories in which teleportation is a reality. It is similar to the clone session, Yous On Another Planet, but with a significant difference as it is not left...

The Philosophy This session goes very well with 'Get Stuffed: Fun With Metaphysics' in The If Machine. Get Stuffed should be run after this one. This may also take a couple of sessions to complete. The aim of this session is to get them to consider whether there is one kind of thing or stuff, or many kinds of thing or stuff. Begin by ...

  2                     2 2                     2 Start Question: Take a look at the 2s above. How many numbers do you think are there? Nested Questions: How many different answers can you think of? If someone said that...

Stimulus 1 The aim of this session is to get the children to consider the conditions under which a causal connection can be said to be the case. Describe a scenario where a boy (or girl) is staring at some traffic lights and when they ask him what he is doing he says that he able to change traffic lights just by staring at them. He says he...

Marjorie is sad, she doesn’t feel special. And then one day, she wakes up... it looks like she’s laid an egg? But what’s inside? Cow’s don’t usually lay eggs... Stimulus You will need the book 'The Cow That Laid An Egg' by Andy Cutbill. Read the story, getting children to join in with various actio...

You are going to need the book 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson for this session. The Little Brown Mouse says that she has a friend called a Gruffalo, but she knows ‘there’s no such thing as a Gruffalo’. Until, she meets one... Task Questions: Did the Little Brown Mouse tell a lie? What is lying? If...

Written by Steve Hoggins Stimulus Once there was a king named Giphad. He ruled over a very peaceful yet powerful kingdom. All was perfect in his kingdom. Except for his son, Jonash. The king's son was very unhappy for no known reason. 
He would always sit in his room staring blankly out the window over the lands, frowning. The king ...

Stimulus Once there was a king named Giphad. He ruled over a very peaceful yet powerful kingdom. All was perfect in his kingdom. Except for his son, Jonash. The king's son was very unhappy for no known reason. King Giphad had tried to lift his son's mood but had just didn't know what would make him happy. So he sent for the wisest...

An adaptation of The Happy Prisoner (taken from The If Machine, p93) Adapted by Steve Hoggins Stimulus Sit one child in the center of the room and say: This person is in a room. A locked room and the key has been thrown away. Whatever happens in this story it is important to remember that this person cannot leave the room. How...