Lesson video

My name is Mrs. Clinton, and I'm so pleased that you've joined me for our lesson.

I'm here to help us with our learning today.

Today's lesson is called Different ideas about origins of the world.

And it's from the unit, The World.

How do different people explain how it started? We will be thinking about how we can explain some different beliefs about the origins of the world.

Now, sometimes learning can be hard, but don't worry, that's why I'm here.

And together we're going to do our learning really well.

We have some keywords today to help us with our learning.

So let's have a look at them and we are gonna do, I say, you say.

So can you repeat the word after me? I say origin, you say.

I say origin, you say.

Come on, we can be a bit louder.

I say origin, you say.

An origin is the place where something begins.

I say religious worldview, you say.

I say religious worldview, you say.

And a religious worldview is our values and beliefs linked to a religion.

I say non-religious worldview, you say.

I say non-religious worldview, you say.

And these are values and beliefs that do not include religion.

They're quite long keywords, but we're going to be using them and reading about them and doing a bit of thinking about them in our lesson today.

Our lesson has two learning cycles.

Number one, how do people explain the origin of the world? And number two, what meanings do different people find? So let's start with learning cycle one.

How do people explain the origins of the world? That's a big question.

I wonder if you've got some ideas about it.

So Sofia and Alex are talking about big questions.

Sofia says, "Why do we ask so many big questions in Religious education lessons?" And Alex says, by "Asking big questions can help us understand different people's worldviews.

We can learn about people's beliefs by asking questions and thinking about their answers." So in this lesson, we use big questions about the origin of the world to help us understand religious and non-religious worldviews.

What different people understand in answering a question about how the world started.

Great.

Well done if you've got that in your brain.

Let's carry on with our thinking.

So Alex says, "We have been asking big questions about the origin of the world in Religious education lessons.

The word origin means beginning or beginnings.

Human beings have always looked around at this world and wondered, 'How did it begin?'" That's a beautiful picture there, isn't it? Taken from space.

And we can see southern America and northern America, right over on the side, you can begin to see a little bit of Europe and where we are in the UK.

Alex and Sofia are thinking about worldviews and how they might link to origins.

Sofia says, "I know some people have a religious worldview.

They mostly believe in God and might look to holy books like the Bible or the Qur'an to help them understand origins." Well done, Sofia.

That's really good knowledge.

And you are right, you are absolutely right.

People with a religious worldview, their ideas about origins often come from a holy book.

Alex says, "I know some people have a non-religious worldview.

They don't believe in God, and they might look to ideas from science to help them understand origins." Ooh, I like the look of that book, Alex.

I like that cover.

I wonder what's inside.

So let's check on your understanding.

What do we call a worldview that does not believe in God? Is it a religious worldview, A.

B, a non-religious worldview.

Or C, no worldview.

You might like to pause this video to give you the chance to think about your answer or maybe to discuss your answer with a partner.

Come back to me when you're ready to tell me what's the correct answer to this question.

Welcome back.

So what was the correct answer? Was it A, B, and C? What do we call a worldview that does not believe in God? And it's B.

Well done if you got that correct.

Sofia and Alex discuss what people might think about origins.

"I think that people with a religious worldview will think that science is not important to explain the origins of the world." Okay, Sofia, thank you for your thoughts.

And Alex says, "I'm not sure, Sofia.

I think some people with a religious worldview might look at science as well as God." Hmm.

I wonder? Who do you think might be right here? And why do you think that? So you might like to pause this video to give you a chance to think about your answer to this question and talk about it with the person next to you.

Come back to me when you've done that.

Welcome back.

I wonder who you think is right? Shall we find out? So here's Diane.

She has a non-religious worldview and Diane is a humanist.

Diane says, "I think science tells us that the universe began all by itself with a big bang.

The origins of the world are natural.

We can explain the origin of the world without the need for God." Well, thank you for telling us about your view, Diane.

"Life on Earth evolved over millions of years from the tiniest creatures to human beings living today." And we can see so many of those creatures and we can see some people from millions or thousands of years ago.

Yeah, fantastic.

So we're beginning to see a little bit of what's inside that book cover that we saw before.

Iqbal has a Muslim worldview and he reads the Qur'an, and that's the Muslim Holy Book.

He says, "The Qur'an includes some scientific ideas about the origin of the world." Okay, I didn't know that.

"It says that Allah, God, broke the heavens and the earth apart and turned the skies to smoke.

This sounds," says Iqbal, "like the big bang at the beginning of the universe, so scientific beliefs are part of my religious worldview." Thank you, Iqbal.

So I have a question for you.

True or false? Get ready with those thumbs.

People with religious and non-religious worldviews always have completely different ideas about how the world began.

Is that true or false? You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think about your answer and maybe discuss it with a person next to you.

Come back to me when you've done that.

Welcome back.

Shall we find out the right answer? People with religious and non-religious worldviews have always have completely different ideas about how the world began.

Show me with your thumbs.

Is that true or false? True or false? I'm looking for your thumbs.

And the answer's false.

Well, why? Some people with a religious and a non-religious worldview share some ideas about how the world began, like the big bang.

And we heard that with Iqbal and Diane.

Really well done if you got that correct.

Victoria has a Jewish worldview.

And she says, "I work as a medical scientist, so I try to link scientific ideas with my religious worldview.

I think it's possible to believe in God and believe in what science helps us understand about origins." Wow, that's really interesting.

I wonder if you knew about Victoria's Jewish worldview? "My holy book says that a thousand years are like a day for God.

I believe the six days of creation could be in thousands or even millions of years." Thank you, Victoria.

That's interesting.

I have a question for you.

Who uses scientific ideas to answer questions about the origins of the world? Is it A, people with a religious worldview.

B, people with a religious and non-religious worldviews.

Or C, people with a non-religious worldview.

You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think about your answer or to discuss it with the person sitting next to you.

Come back to me when you've decided, is it A, B, or C? Welcome back.

So I wonder what you decided? Was the answer A, B, or C.

Who uses scientific ideas to answer questions about the origins of the world? Shall we have a look? What was the right answer? It was B.

Really well done if you got that correct.

That's great.

Well done.

So I have a task for you.

Can you explain why Alex and Sofia are both correct? Alex says, "Some people use scientific and religious ideas to help them answer big questions about the origins of the world." And Sofia says, "Some people only use scientific ideas to help them answer big questions about the origins of the world." So can you explain why Alex and Sophia are both correct? You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think, and talk, or write your answer.

You might want to do that on your own or with a partner or in a small group.

Come back to me when you finish the task.

Welcome back.

So you needed to explain why Alex and Sofia are both correct.

So you might have said, "Alex is right because some people with religious worldviews such as Victoria and Iqbal use scientific ideas as well as their religious beliefs to help them answer big questions.

Sofia is right because humanists like Diane and other people with non-religious worldviews use science to help them answer big questions about the origins of the world." Well done if you talked about or wrote something like that in your answer to that question.

That is really good.

Well done.

Let's start learning cycle two.

What meanings do different people find? Here's Sofia and she says, we've invited some visitors with different worldviews into our class.

We are gonna ask them questions about their beliefs.

Well, that sounds wonderful.

It's great when you get visitors coming into the classroom.

Alex says, "I want to know what they believe about the origin of the world.

I wonder if they disagree about everything or do they have beliefs in common"? So here's Iqbal and Sofia asks him, "What do you believe about the origin of the world and why is it important to you?" And Iqbal tells us, "As a Muslim, I believe that Allah, God, created the world.

It's important for me to know that Allah, God, has been there since the beginning and he cares about the world he created." Thank you, Iqbal.

Ooh, that's an interesting picture.

I wonder if we're going to find out a little bit more about that image.

So Iqbal says, "I believe only Allah, God, was there to see what really happened all those years ago.

Human beings will not be able to understand or explain everything." Okay, so for you, God was the only person there at the start of creation, at the start of the universe.

And actually human beings can't always understand everything.

Maybe our brains are not big enough.

Thank you, Iqbal.

That gives us something to think about.

And we've also got Fergus in the classroom and he is a Christian and has a Christian worldview.

And he says, "As a Christian, I believe that God created the world and he cares about it.

I believe the origins of the universe are an amazing mystery.

There's so much we don't yet know.

Not everyone agrees with my ideas, and that's okay.

It's important to me that God created the world for human beings to enjoy and look after.

I walk in the countryside and see the beautiful world all around me, it reminds me to say thank you to God." Okay, so for Fergus, he likes being out in nature in the world around him.

And that's a beautiful image.

I think I would also like to be on that walk with Fergus.

Though looking at that pathway, I think I would need my Wellington boots on, or my walking boots, normal shoes might get a little bit muddy, but I love it when the sun is shining on my face as well.

So thank you, Fergus.

It's important to you that God created the world and humans need to enjoy it and look after it.

So I have a question for you.

Is this true or false? Muslims and Christians believe that God created the world.

You might want to pause this video to give you time to think about your answer or to talk with a partner about your answer, and you can come back ready to show your thumbs whether you think it's true or false.

Welcome back.

So do Muslims and Christians believe that God created the world and show me your thumbs? The answer is true.

Yes, Muslims and Christians.

Most Muslims and Christians believe that God created the world.

Well done if you had your thumbs up and got that answer correct.

So Alex has a question now for Diane.

"Are your beliefs about the origin of the world the same as Iqbal and Fergus?" Diane says, "As a humanist, I don't believe in God.

I often go walking in the countryside too, so that's quite like Fergus.

The beautiful views make me think about how wonderful the world is." So that's very similar to Fergus, isn't it? And what Fergus has told us, except Diane doesn't believe in God.

It's important to be curious about the origins of the world and to keep asking questions.

No one has all the answers and there's always something new to learn.

It's okay to disagree with people, but I always try and do that kindly.

So let's check on your understanding.

Is this true or false? People with different worldviews always argue and disagree about their views.

You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think about your answer or to discuss it with a partner.

Come back to me when you are ready to show me on your thumbs, is this true or false? Welcome back.

So you ready with your thumbs? People with different worldview always argue and disagree about their views.

Is that true or false? It's false.

Why? People with religious and non-religious worldviews might have interesting conversations and disagree Well with each other.

They can learn from each other's beliefs about God and the world.

And we saw that in the classroom, didn't we? We saw Iqbal and Fergus and Diane, all believe slightly different things, but actually they were able to have a conversation and disagree well with each other.

Now I have a task for you.

Alex has listened carefully to Iqbal, Diane and Fergus.

"I can see that people with religious and non-religious worldviews feel awe and wonder when they think about the world and its origins." Is Alex correct? What else might these people say about the world? So I'd like you to think about your answer and you might want to pause this video to give you time to work on your answer, maybe work with a partner or in a group and come back to me when you've got your answer complete.

Welcome back.

So is Alex correct? What else might these characters say about the world? So you could say, "Alex is right to say that Iqbal, Diane and Fergus all feel awe and wonder about the world.

Iqbal and Fergus might say that the world was created by God and he cares for it.

Fergus and Diane might say that walking in the countryside makes them think about how wonderful the world is." Did your answer look anything like this? Well, if it did, really well done.

That's excellent work.

So we've come to the end of our lesson for today, and here is a summary of what we've learned.

Many people with a religious or non-religious worldview share ideas about how the world began.

People can have a religious worldview and accept scientific ideas about how the world began.

People with religious and non-religious worldviews can disagree well about whether God was involved in the origin of the world.

Thank you very much for being with me as we've gone through this lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed finding out what these different people believe about the origins of the world.

I think it's really interesting to think about these big questions, but I'm going to say goodbye for now and hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Goodbye.