Religions and Beliefs: A World of Diversity

Religions and Beliefs: A World of Diversity

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand the diversity of religions and beliefs in the world.

What do you already know about different religions and beliefs?

Guessing Game: World Village

Imagine the world as a village of 100 people. In groups, discuss and guess how many people would belong to each religion and how many would be non-religious.

Comparing Guesses with Data

Compare your guesses with the actual data: Christians (32), Muslims (24), Non-religious (16), Hindus (15), Buddhists (7), Other (6). Discuss any surprises and reasons behind them.

Shrinking the UK

Now, imagine the UK shrunk to 100 people. Discuss how many would belong to each religion based on the 2011 Census data.

Your Local Area

Refer to the syllabus (p.146) and discuss the religious statistics of your local area. Consider which groups believe or don't believe in God.

Introducing Vocabulary

Introduce vocabulary: theist, atheist, agnostic. Discuss the meanings and origins of these terms.

Interactive Activity

Write your answers on mini-whiteboards or stand next to the word that connects with the statement: theist, atheist, or agnostic.

Statement Analysis

Read out statements and ask students to explain why they think the term applies.

Discussion

Facilitate a discussion about the different beliefs and perspectives represented by the terms theist, atheist, and agnostic.

Recap and Summary

Recap the main points covered in the lesson and summarize the diversity of religions and beliefs.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.