Philosophy Diogenes was a Cynic, a group of philosophers in Hellenistic times (c. 323-146 BCE) that dropped out of conventional society much like modern-day hippies. The origin of the word 'cynic' comes from the Greek (via Latin) for 'dog', and has the same root as the English word 'canine'. In this story we explore th...

Stimulus This is a true story about a girl called Becky who had a very bright idea when she was 10 years old. Becky was just a normal girl and lived with a normal family in a normal town in America. One normal day after school Becky’s mum took her shopping. Her mum had to leave her in the car just for a few minutes while she pop...

By Steve Hoggins This session is based on the story The little red hen. The difference being that in the tale the other characters holds exactly the same position – they don’t want to help. Resources 3 Puppets Story generation Introduce the three characters by name (I used to get the children to choose) and then s...

Stimulus Describe (and draw) the following two scenarios: Scenario A: You see someone walking along and next to you is a plank of wood. They are not looking where they are going. You decide to place the plank of wood in front of the person so that they will trip over. You do this and they don’t notice and they trip over and hurt them...

Designed by Steven Campbell-Harris Starter Activity Play the following clip (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T2yCmW0ARs0) up to 2:16 into the video. Stop the clip and ask the Task Question: should Larry pay for the glasses? Task questions: Who is responsible for the glasses? Whose fault is it that the glasses are broken? ...

Thinking about Risk and Responsibility Session by Peter Worley. The emphasis throughout this lesson plan is on risk and responsibility, however you may want to include a discussion around self control and desire. If so, during the first enquiry (around TQ1) have the class explore how much they want (or would want) to press the button and h...

  You are walking along and find a box. Inside this box is a magic ring. It’s magic because if you put it on, it will change you into something completely different. Task questions 1: If the ring could turn you into a FISH (for the rest of your life), would you put it on? If the ring could turn you into a GIANT, woul...

A three-minute play by Paul Bodin.   Revised by fifth graders Audrey McCarthy & Jasmine Klein For more info on how to use this play for an enquiry, have a look at Pete's blog at the following link: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/blog/dialogues-in-philosophy-with-children. (Note:  CAFO is pronounced “ka&rdq...