Year 6, Term 2: CHRISTIANITY UNITS: BIG QUESTIONS

A series of lessons on some of life’s big questions:

  1. Why ask big questions?
  2. Does science have all the answers?
  3. Who makes the rules?
  4. What can we be sure of?
  5. How much are people worth?
  6. Why is there so much human suffering?
  7. Is there a divine being who cares about me?
  8. What gives my life ultimate meaning?
  9. Why be a good person?
  10. What happens after we die?
  11. Does God answer prayer?
  12. What kind of a person do I want to become?

Lesson 1 Asking Questions

  • Introduce theme of thinking about Big Questions about God and religion
  • Talk to partner: what is a question? Feedback and discuss.
  • Discussion: what is the difference between an open and a closed question?
  • Group work: Why do people ask questions? Pupils discuss and then spokesperson feeds back ideas. Record responses. Ask pupils to share occasions when asking a question has really helped them learn something new.
  • Group work: pupils have to record some of the questions they have. Ask them to grade them with 1 being fairly easy to answer and 5 being really difficult. They design a poster with their questions on display.
  • Pupils may want to share their own perspectives about the different questions raised and some of the viewpoints they have arrived at.
  • You may want to invite a local religious leader to come in to the class to answer some of the questions they pupils have suggested.

Lesson 2: Science and Faith

  • Highlight the big questions raised in the last lesson. One thing many people would like to know is the answer to the question: Is there a God? Can this God be known?
  • Play short dvd clip: Alistair McGrath speaks of belief in God and non-belief in God as a matter of faith.
  • Discuss the keywords in the video: belief, rational, design, science, evidence, proof, confidence. Print each word on to A4 card. Create a washing line with Science at the left and Faith/Religion at the right. Pupils place towards the left if they think the word is a religious one and more to the right if they think it is scientific.
  • “Science and faith are two ways of looking at the same thing.” Discuss.
  • Consider the Bible quotation from Hebrews chapter 11 verses 1-3: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Discuss the idea that for the Christian faith creates understanding. It gives them a way of seeing and knowing things. How does this help them? Pupils share ideas and present to the class.

Lesson 3: Who makes the rules?

  • Talk about authority: we are all answerable to someone. At home you are told what to do by your parents, at school by the teachers. Teachers have to abide by what the Head Teacher wants, and he/she has to follow the instructions given to him by the governors, and by the government. The government have to follow the orders of the UN, the European Union etc. Authority means you have the power or the right to be a leader of others.
  • For discussion: What do you think the world would be like if there was no-one in authority? Would it be a good place or would it be scary?
  • Discuss: Is God the leader?
  • Group work: Make a list of the qualities God has. Are these good qualities for a leader? What rules might God have? What are the punishments if we disobey His rules? Discuss differences between the Christian and Muslim view of God as the ultimate authority.
  • Write a paragraph explaining whether you think God is the ultimate leader of humanity. Give reasons for your answer. If not God, then do we have a way of life we should lead?

Lesson 4 Are you worth it?

  • Give each pupil five dried kidney beans, or something similar. Ask them to examine the beans and choose the “Best” bean. Don’t give them any other information. After two minutes, have some of the pupils explain how they chose their “best” bean. Relate the beans to people by asking the following questions: Are all of your beans the same on the inside? Are all people the same on the inside? When we eat the beans, will all the beans taste the same?
  • Discussion: Imagine you are hanging off a cliff and are desperately clinging to a few blades of grass that are pulling loose from the ground. Suddenly, a hand appears from above to rescue you. Would you wait to see what that person looked like before you reached for help? Is one bean better than another? Is one person better than another?
  • Group work: brainstorm causes for low self-esteem and how it affects people.
  • If you and I are a collection of chemicals, how much are we worth? Discuss the chemical make-up of humans and their value (not even £10!) What is it that makes us special?
  • What Christians believe about our identity and value and the impact on their thinking and actions.

Lesson 5: Why is there so much human suffering?

  • Look at a selection of daily newspaper headlines and find examples of suffering in the world. Ask the pupils to classify them into types and respond to each by saying whether or not it was caused by humans – groups or individuals – and whether it was avoidable.
  • Brainstorm examples of suffering. Analyse and classify these into categories, eg natural causes, human causes.
  • Consider how the issue of suffering can link to that of belief/disbelief in God – discuss the issue, eg a loving God would not allow suffering, therefore God does not exist.
  • Talk about the Christian understanding of freewill: that when God made the world Christians believe he wanted humans to always have the freedom to choose, either for good or bad. Often our choices create examples of the suffering in the world. Christians believe God to be a wise, just and loving Creator who remains committed to His creation including the people who live on the planet. He is not unmoved by our pain. They think he came to experience our pain through the coming of Jesus and to give his life as a solution to the suffering in the world. Many Christians talk about how their faith helps them in their suffering: that they know god is with them. They believe that one day God will end suffering and pain and “wipe all tears from our eyes”. (See Revelation chapter 21:3-7)
  • Look at copies of paintings, hymns, songs and poems produced by different Christians which sum up suffering, and especially the suffering of Jesus, eg the crucifixion, the agony in the garden. Discuss what each writer or artist is trying to convey.
  • Discuss the work of an agency such as Christian Aid and consider what is being done to ease suffering in developing countries, areas where there is war or famine or local suffering, such as homelessness.

Lesson 6: What happens after we die?

  • Ask the pupils to reflect on their own experiences of death so far. Have they experienced the death of a pet or relative? How did adults in their lives explain the death to them?
  • Pupils make a list of feelings associated with grief at the death of a loved one. Discuss the different views about what happens when we die and that not all people believe in life after death.
  • Pupils reflect on what they believe about death, is death the end? What happens when you die? They compile a list of questions they wish to ask about death.
  • Discuss or respond to the thought that grief affects all humans, and therefore unites them.
  • Children to think of a time when they felt loss, how long did they feel it? What made it better/easier to cope with?
  • Children to create a definition of death, then compare with partner/class. Look at a dictionary definition - Do they agree with definition?
  • What happened when Jesus died? (Look at Matthew chapter 28:6) What did say about life after death? (Look at John chapter 11:25) Where does Jesus say his followers for after they die? (Look at Revelation chapter 20:1-2)
  • Tell the story of Jairus’ daughter (Luke chapter 8:40-56) or the raising of Lazarus (John Chapter 11:1-36) from the New Testament. (A suitable clip about the raising of Jarius’ daughter can be found on the BBC film The Miracle Maker). What does this story tell about Christian belief about death and Jesus? Explain the term resurrection. Explain that Christians believe everyone in heaven will be resurrected at the end of time, because Jesus was resurrected.
  • Pupils create a poem about heaven or discuss possible endings to the sentence; “If heaven were a colour it would be…” Discuss their ideas of what does heaven looks like?
  • Children to research Sikh and Buddhist beliefs about death and customs (opportunity for ICT link)
  • Children to compare these to Hindu religious beliefs about death. What is similar and what is different?
  • Investigate the concept of reincarnation more fully.
  • Ask the children to write a poem that could be read at a Hindu/ Sikh or Buddhist funeral that expresses their belief in life and death.
  • Introduce the Muslim concept of life as a test and the Day of Judgement, a pair of scales could be used to demonstrate the ‘weighing’ up of someone’s life. Possibility to compare to Ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death.
  • Introduce the term paradise and read the pupils some quotes from the Qur’an about paradise. Mix up quotes from the Qur’an and the Bible and children to work out which quotes belong to which religion.
  • Ask the children to design their own paradise garden or write a poem or song about paradise. Compare their views with those of a Muslim.