Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work
Good and evil
The sample unit of work provides teaching strategies and learning experiences that facilitate
students’ demonstration of the dimensions and objectives of Religion and Ethics SAS 2014.
This sample demonstrates:
 organisation and development of a unit that could be used within a course of study
 aspects of the underpinning factors particular to this unit
 learning experiences that support the achievement of the objectives described in the
dimensions of this syllabus
141183
 alignment between core subject matter, learning experiences and assessment.
Unit overview
Title of unit: Good and evil
The unit description includes a title and a
paragraph that outlines the intent of the unit.
Unit description:
The purpose of this unit is to guide students through inquiries into the realities of goodness, truth,
beauty, evil and suffering in our world. Students investigate the perspectives of Christianity and
other worldviews on ‘the good life’ and evaluate how these perspectives may be applied in everyday
life. They consider their own vision of ‘the good life’ and the reason they hold this view. The inquiries
should challenge students to raise questions stimulated by these concepts and to discuss the
implications.
The unit is structured in two parts.
‘The good life’
Students explore the different forms that goodness, truth and beauty can take. They reflect on these
concepts, their origins, and the extent to which they can be subjective or objective. Perspectives on
‘the good life’ from Christian and non-Christian worldviews will be examined and how these
perspectives can be applied in everyday life.
Evil and suffering
Students engage with examples of evil and suffering in our world, analysing types, causes,
complexities and responses. Perspectives on evil and suffering from Christian and non-Christian
worldviews will be examined and responses to the question of ‘how a loving, almighty God could
allow evil and suffering?’ will be considered. Students will reflect on whether meaning or good can
come from suffering, and whether life lessons can be learnt from it.
Time allocation:
A time requirement for the unit is indicated.
Semester 1, 2, 3 or 4; 55 hours
Dimensions and objectives
Knowing and understanding
By the conclusion of the course of study, students should:
 recognise and describe concepts, ideas and terminology about religion, beliefs and ethics
 identify and explain the ways religion, beliefs and ethics contribute to the personal, relational and
spiritual perspectives of life and society
 explain viewpoints and practices related to religion, beliefs and ethics.
Applying and examining
By the conclusion of the course of study, students should:
 organise information and material related to religion, beliefs and ethics
 analyse perspectives, viewpoints and practices related to religion, beliefs and ethics
 apply concepts and ideas to make decisions about inquiries
 use language conventions and features to communicate ideas and information, according to
purposes.
Producing and evaluating
By the conclusion of the course of study, students should:
 plan and undertake inquiries about religion, beliefs and ethics
 communicate the outcomes of inquiries, to suit audiences
 appraise inquiry processes and the outcomes of inquiries.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 2 of 7
Content to be taught
Concepts and ideas
An understanding of the realities of goodness, truth and beauty and evil and suffering provides ways for
people to make sense of life and to find direction on how to live.
Religions and worldviews provide perspectives on ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering.
Religion, beliefs and ethics can help us understand and finding meaning in a world characterised by good
and evil.
Knowledge, understanding and skills
The knowledge, understanding and skills listed
should be developed, showing integration of the
core areas.
Identified concepts and ideas, together with the
relevant knowledge, understanding and skills, are
from the syllabus.
Personal
 personal concepts of ‘the good life’, evil and suffering
 understandings of the virtues of goodness, truth and beauty
 sources and nature of goodness, truth and beauty
 sources of good and evil, and personal responses to good and evil
 sources of human suffering and personal responses to suffering and death
Relational
 how society/contemporary media depicts goodness, truth and beauty
 how personal perspectives on ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering affect others
 how the perspectives of religions and worldviews on ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering affect others
 ways of dealing with pain and suffering
 responsibilities toward others in enhancing their good and alleviating their suffering
Spiritual
 perspectives of religions and worldviews on ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering, and how these could
apply in everyday life
 natural and moral evil
 deriving meaning and life lessons from suffering
 responses of religions and worldviews to the question of ‘why bad things happen to good people’
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 3 of 7
Syllabus dimensions and objectives are delivered
through learning experiences throughout the unit
of work.
Learning experiences
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recognising and describing concepts, ideas and
terminology about goodness, truth, beauty,
evil and suffering, e.g. through discussing stories of suffering
using a range of sources, researching the concepts of goodness, truth, beauty, evil and suffering to
recognise, describe and understand related concepts, ideas and terminology
discussing stories of goodness, evil and suffering
reflecting on symbols of suffering and hope and asking personal questions about evil and suffering
identifying and explaining the how the realities of good and evil, truth and beauty, provide ways for
people to make sense of the good and bad aspects of human existence
explaining viewpoints and practices related to ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering, including their own
viewpoints, those of classmates and those of people widely regarded as ‘great’ in our culture
e.g. Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela
organising information about truth, beauty, good, evil and suffering, and their expressions in daily life
analysing perspectives, viewpoints and practices related to ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering, such
as a class line up about whether goodness, truth and beauty are objective or subjective or case
studies/film reviews about examples of evil and suffering
applying concepts and ideas to make decisions about inquiries into good and evil such as creating a
code of conduct that demonstrates the values of having a worldview of ‘the good life’
using language conventions and features to communicate ideas and information about ‘the good life’
and evil and suffering, according to purposes
planning and undertaking inquiries about good and evil, e.g. the vision of the ‘good life’ as described in
Christianity, Humanism and other worldviews
communicating the outcomes of inquiries about ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering, to suit audiences,
e.g. researching and presenting a debate about whether a good God can exist in a world with so much
evil and suffering
appraising inquiry processes and the outcomes of inquiries into evil and suffering, how people make
sense of and respond to evil and suffering, and life lessons that can be learnt
investigating and analysing a variety of viewpoints about ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering,
including personal viewpoints, those of classmates and those of people widely regarded as ‘great’ in
our culture, e.g. Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela
examining responses to evil and suffering by people with a non-Christian worldview (e.g. Jews,
Buddhists and Atheists) and comparing these with views of people with a Christian worldview
interpreting these different worldviews and comparing how the followers make sense of, and respond
to, evil and suffering
inviting a guest speaker, e.g. a local community newspaper reporter or media personalilty, to discuss
media representations of good, beauty, evil and suffering and the challenges involved
inviting a health professional or victim of crime to discuss their perceptions of and responses to good,
evil and suffering
examining case studies or reading film reviews that provide examples of goodness, truth and beauty,
or evil and suffering to identify and discuss different viewpoints
viewing films that depict the realities of good and evil/suffering, and/or truth and beauty, e.g. the Harry
Potter series, Schindler’s List, The Dark Knight, The Hunger Games, to discuss the perspectives,
viewpoints and worldviews portrayed
reading novels that explore the concepts of good and evil/suffering, and/or truth and beauty, e.g. the
Harry Potter series, The Book Thief, ‘The Hunger Games’, to identify and discuss the various
interpretations of these concepts and the responses of a selected character/s
viewing artworks that show images of good and evil/suffering, and/or truth and beauty, e.g. The Eyes
of a Witness (a collection by David Olère), Guernica (Picasso), works by Kollwitz and Rothko
listening to songs that send a message about good, evil and/or suffering in the world, e.g. Imagine,
Heal the World, to identify and discuss the perspectives and worldviews portrayed
creating a code of conduct that demonstrates the values of a worldview regarding ‘the good life’
researching and presenting a debate about whether a
Learning experiences show coverage of the core
good God can exist in a world with so much evil
and elective and support the assessment
possibilities indicated.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 4 of 7
Assessment
The following assessment tasks are suggestions only. Teachers may choose from techniques and the
options that follow, or devise alternate instruments, to suit their students’ needs and school context.
Assessment instrument 1: Project — analysis of a film or novel
Dimensions assessed:
Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique:
Project
Assessment conditions:
Semester 1–2
Semester 3–4
Written component:
400–700 words
500–900 words
Spoken component:
1½ – 3½ minutes
2½ – 3½ minutes
Multimodal component:
2–4 minutes
3–6 minutes
Performance component:
Schools provide students with some continuous class time to develop the
performance components of the collection of work.
The length of this component will depend upon the nature of the task.
Product component:
Schools provide students with some continuous class time to develop the
product components of the collection of work.
The length of this component will depend upon the nature of the task.
Part A (written component)
Students write an analysis of a film or novel that depicts suffering.
Part B (product or performance component)
Students write a song or create a piece of artwork that reflects the outcome of their analysis.
Part C (spoken component)
Students present an ‘artist’s statement’ that explains and justifies their response.
The different components within a project can be
delivered at different times throughout a unit of
work. However, one overall result is given for the
completed project.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 5 of 7
Assessment instrument 2: Investigation (choice of response mode)
Dimensions assessed:
Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique:
Investigation
Assessment conditions:
Semester 1–2
Semester 3–4
Written component:
500–800 words
600–1000 words
Spoken component:
2–4 minutes
3–4 minutes
Multimodal component:
3–5 minutes
4–7 minutes
The student response may be presented as a written, spoken or multimodal response.
Option 1
Students investigate examples of evil and suffering in the world. They examine responses to evil and
suffering by people with a non-Christian worldview (e.g. Jews, Buddhists and Atheists) and a Christian
worldview. They interpret these different worldviews and compare how the followers make sense of, and
respond to, evil and suffering. Students evaluate the life lessons that can be learnt and how evil and
suffering can affirm and challenge personal worldviews.
Option 2
Students present a personal response to the question ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ Using
their research to support the response, they make comparisons between their personal worldview and the
worldviews studied throughout the unit.
Assessment instrument 3: Extended response to stimulus (choice of response mode)
Dimensions assessed:
Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique:
Extended response to stimulus
Assessment conditions:
Semester 1–2
Semester 3–4
Written component:
500–800 words
600–1000 words
Spoken component:
2–4 minutes
3–4 minutes
Multimodal component:
3–5 minutes
4–7 minutes
Stimulus material: a film/s that depicts the realities of good and evil/suffering, and/or truth and beauty.
Students review the film/s and discuss the perspectives and viewpoints portrayed.
The student response may be presented as a written, spoken or multimodal response.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 6 of 7
Assessment instrument 4: Examination — short responses
Dimensions assessed:
Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Assessment technique:
Examination
Assessment conditions:
Semester 1–2
Semester 3–4
Recommended duration:
60–90 minutes
60–90 minutes
Short response test:
50–150 words per item
(diagrams and workings not included
in word count)
50–250 words per item
(diagrams and workings not included
in word count)
The examination consists of a number of items that could require students to:
 recognise, describe and explain concepts, ideas, issues and viewpoints about goodness, truth,
beauty, evil and suffering
 analyse, interpret and apply ideas and information on ‘the good life’ and evil and suffering
 respond to stimulus materials, e.g. pictures, cartoons, text, that portray views on goodness, truth,
beauty, evil and suffering.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Good and evil
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015
Page 7 of 7