RE Department Planning Sheet
Year 8
Lesson Title
Big questions – an
introduction to philosophy
An introduction to moral
philosophy
Why do we act as we do?
Learning
Outcomes
Suggested
activities/homelearning and
assessments
To be able to:
 Define philosophy
 Think up some big
questions
 Investigate some
philosophical
arguments
The Complete Philosophy Files – Stephen Law
To be able to:
 Look at decision
making from a different
point of view
 Have thought about
what right and good
means
 Have an opinion on
where they stand on a
moral issue and can
give reasons
The Complete Philosophy Files – where do right and wrong
come from?
To be able to:
 Think about why we
The young philosophers course – lesson 2, In Deep Water
Copy of Titanic DVD
The young philosophers course
A series of moral dilemmas to explore, pieces from the
newspapers etc


Can violence ever be justified?
Is it ever right to kill?
Is there evidence that God
exists?
Where did the universe come
from?
make the decisions we
do
To apply this to two
moral dilemmas
Be able to explain why
your decision was made
The young philosophers course – lesson 3, The ring of Gyges
Copy of Lord of the Rings
To be able to:
 Sort the different types
of violence into groups
 Have thought about
why some forms are
more acceptable than
others
 Investigate non-violent
protest
The young philosophers course – lesson 5, Can violence ever
be justified?
A copy of The Mission
A copy of Gandhi
Book the computer room – investigate non-violent protests
in history, eg Emily Davison, Emmeline Pankhurst,
Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King
To be able to:
 Define killing
 Think about the
different types of killing
 Try and work out why
sometimes killing is
more acceptable than
others
The Complete Philosophy Files – Killing People
To be able to:
 Think about how the
universe exists
 Compare theories
 Express
an
opinion
with reasons
The Complete Philosophy Files – does the universe exist?
Is there evidence that God
exists?
Is there evidence that God
exists?
The Design Argument
Is there evidence that God
exists?
The Ontological argument
To be able to:
 Think about why the
universe exists rather
than how
 Investigate some
philosophical theories
about whether God
exists
 Express some ideas on
the meaning of life
The Complete Philosophy Files – Stephen Law
Does God exist?
Why was there a bang rather than no bang?
Key words: omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent,
causation, design
To be able to:
 Think about whether it
is reasonable to believe
in God
 Investigate one of the
big philosophical
arguments for believing
in God
 Express opinions on
how compelling this
argument is, and have
looked at arguments
against
To be able to:
 Think about whether it
is reasonable to believe
in God
 Investigate one of the
big philosophical
arguments for believing
in God
 Express opinions on
how compelling this
The young philosophers course – lesson 10
Paley’s Watch
The young philosophers course – lesson 11
Is there evidence that God
exists?
The problem of evil and
suffering
To be



Human Rights
To be



World poverty
argument is, and have
looked at arguments
against
able to:
Think about whether it
is reasonable to believe
in God
Investigate one of the
big philosophical
arguments against
believing in God
Express opinions on
how compelling this
argument is, and have
looked at arguments
against
able to:
Think about what
human rights are
Understand how the
need for a human
rights act came about
Explain the importance
of universal human
rights
To be able to:
 Understand the causes
of world poverty
 Weigh up the problems
and solutions
 Be able to express an
opinion with reasons
The young philosophers course – lesson 12
Natural evil and moral evil
Big questions:
What 10 things should everyone in the world be entitled to?
Should everyone have human rights? (terrorists, murderers,
paedophiles etc)
What happens when a country does not give all of its people
human rights?
How does religion support, and hinder, human rights?
Look at: the Holocaust as a background, Guantanamo Bay,
Bosnia, Turkey, Syria
P4C picture (the boy and the bird?)
What questions does this raise? How can someone end up in
this position?
Natural disasters, war, corrupt leaders, debt, lack of health
care, lack of education
Christian Aid
Religious organisations
working for peace
Islam
To be able to:
 Describe the work of
Christian Aid
 Explain why Christians
do this work
Computer lesson if possible.
Create a leaflet or a web page or a powerpoint or a poster
To be able to:
 Describe the work of a
Christian and a Muslim
organisation working
towards peace
 Explain why they work
for peace
 Express your own
opinions, giving reasons
why people may
disagree with you
Computer lesson if possible.
To be able to:
 Explain the importance
of Allah and
Muhammad
 Connect this with how
a Muslim lives their
lives (in the UK and in
Islamic countries)
 Explain the impact of
the five pillars
 Think about the links
between Islam and
Christianity
This should be research based / project based work and will
take the last half term of the summer term. The aim of this
is to give the students a grounding in Islam that they will
need in Year 9.
The parable of the sheep and the goats
Question: is it easier to give money or time? Which is more
valuable and why?
The World Council of Churches
Pax Christi
Islamic Relief and the Muslim Peace Fellowship
Questions:
Do you think peace vigils work?
Is world peace possible? Why / why not?
Group presentations – each pair to have a different aspect of
Islam eg the Mosque, the attributes of Allah, the life of
Muhammad, the Qur’an, the Five Pillars, Eid
Two lessons preparation – one class based and one
computer based – one lesson presenting.