Year 3 and up Key ideas To what extent are animals similar to people? Do they have rights? Should they be treated the same or different? Are pets people? Stimulus Place two boards in the centre of the circle.  One with ‘a person and one with ‘an animal on it. Ask children to point at people and then point at animals ...

Context Play this video to the class, first providing the following context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e6Cfq_YchM This is a clip of the 100m men’s final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The two fastest sprinters were Carl Lewis, an American sprinter, and his longtime rival, Canadian Ben Johnson. Although Johnson held the current...

An original two-minute play by Darby Smith. Revised by Paul Bodin. (NOTE:  Student 1 should be acted by a girl, and Student 2 should be acted by a boy.  Fill in the names of people <inside special brackets> before performing the play.) For information on how to use this play in the classroom, take a look at Pete's ...

By Oliver Leech The Philosophy This session introduces an old chestnut from the repertoire of ethical problems. Traditionally, the story draws attention to the distinction between a deontological response (there is a duty to keep promises no matter what the consequences) and a utilitarian approach (the right course of action is that which ...

This session is based on the book 'The Rainbow Fish' by Marcus Pfister. The rainbow fish is the most beautiful fish in the sea. No other fish has such sparkly and colourful scales. When another fish asks if they can have one of those sparkly scales, the rainbow fish says ‘no’. Now she doesn’t have any friends. What...

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...

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...

Thought Adventure no. 20 Equipment needed and preparation: A standard classroom ruler and a less standard, more unique looking item(s). Starting age: 5 years Key concepts / vocabulary: steal, find, borrow, know, intention, property, ownership, permission Subject links: PSHE and all knowledge-based subjects Key controversies: Wh...

Equipment needed and preparation: a percentage die (a ten-sided die rolled twice, once for the units and again for the tens) Starting age: 8 years Key concepts / vocabulary: travel, exploration, risk, self-interest, dilemma, survival, Subject links: geography: ‘travel’, ‘exploration’, ‘survival’, RE (...