Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Robertson, and I love RE.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

Today's lesson is in our big question about the world and how do different people explain how it started.

Such an exciting and interesting question, isn't it? Today's lesson is all about humanists and how they believe the world started.

I can't wait to be learning with you.

So by the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain some humanist beliefs about the origins of the world.

RE is such an incredibly interesting subject, and I know you're going to love today's lesson.

In this lesson, we have three key words.

I'll say the word first, and then I'd like you to say it next back to me.

Our first word is humanist.

Amazing.

Our second word is origin.

Fantastic.

And our final word is Big Bang.

Incredible.

So a humanist is a person, who follows a non-religious way of thinking based on human values.

Origin means the place where something begins, and the Big Bang is a giant explosion at the beginning of the universe.

We're going to be using those key words all through our lesson.

So our lesson today is all about humanists and how the world started.

And the first question we're going to be asking is, how do humanists explain the origin of the world? Are you ready everyone? Have we got our RE thinking caps on? Let's go.

So Aisha and Alex are talking about big questions.

Hello, Alex.

Hello, Aisha.

Alex says, "Why do we ask so many big questions in religious education lessons?" What a good point, Alex, because that's what we do, isn't it? And Aisha says, "Asking big questions can help us understand different people's world views.

We can learn about people's beliefs by asking questions and thinking about their answers." And in this lesson, we're going to be talking about a really big question.

The origin of the universe, can't get bigger than that, can you? And we're going to think about this and that will help us better understand humanist worldviews.

Let's meet Diane.

Hello, Diane.

Diane has a humanist worldview.

Diane says, "As a humanist, it's important to me to ask lots of questions and think carefully about my beliefs.

I believe in science and reason." Reason means thinking about things really carefully.

"I choose to live a good kind life without believing in a God or belonging to a religious community." Thank you, Diane, for helping us understand about humanism.

Diane's gonna tell us a little bit more.

People with a humanist worldview believe that human beings should make the most of having one life.

Look after the world, learn about the world, and ask questions.

Be happy and make other people happy.

Thank you.

So we've learned four really important things about what humanists think and what their worldview says.

Let's check our understanding now, shall we? I've got a true or false question for you, and I'd like you to put your thinking caps on.

True or false.

Humanists ask lots of questions.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and have a think.

What do you think? True? Yes, it's true, isn't it? Why is it true? Because humanists learn about the world by asking questions and using science to find answers.

Well done if you've got that correct.

Brilliant RE thinking.

Diane's going to explain a bit more about her humanist worldview.

Diane says, "My parents always talked about scientific ideas with me as I grew up.

They taught me to ask questions and think about what information I could trust." Diane and Alan have a new baby called Amy.

Hello, Alan.

Oh, look at that beautiful baby.

Diane says, "As Amy grows up, we will encourage her to ask questions and be curious about other people and their ideas.

We want her to learn to think for herself." Look at that amazing image of our planet that was taken from space looking down on the world.

Diane says, "I've always been interested in science.

I like to look at the stars and wonder all about the world and where it came from." Do you ever think of that as well? Do you ever get a chance to look up at the stars and think about this amazing world and wonder where it came from? I know, I certainly do.

Ooh, what can you see there? A really beautiful book, and it's called "The Book of Beginnings." And we are learning about origins, aren't we in this lesson? Diane says, "When I was little, a book about the origin of the world explained how the world began millions of years ago with a big bang.

I'm looking forward to sharing this book with Amy when she's older." Oh, isn't that interesting? So Diane read a book when she was young, which helped her understand how the world began using ideas of science.

And now Diane wants to share that with her baby when she gets older, because humanists want their children to understand how the world began as well.

Look inside.

What a beautiful book.

What can we see? Mm.

I can see some volcanoes.

I think I can see some dinosaurs.

I love dinosaurs.

And look, there's some people as well.

What can you see? Diane says, the pictures in the book will help me to explain how life evolved from the Big Bang at very beginning of the universe into the wonderful world we see around us today.

And in that image you can see, can't you? The idea of evolution, animals coming outta the sea, changing and adapting into different life forms until we get to the animals and humans we find today.

Let's just check our understanding.

Which of these beliefs is important to most humanists? A.

God created the world at the very beginning.

B.

Everyone should belong to a place of worship.

C.

Science explains how life on earth evolved over millions of years.

Think about that book that Diane was reading that might help you.

Let's put our thinking caps on and pause the video.

What do you think RE explorers? Its C, isn't it? Science explains how life on earth evolved over millions of years.

Humanists think that's a really important belief.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay.

We're going to do our first task now.

We've got some true or false statements.

I'd like you to think whether this statement is true or false.

Let's start with A.

Most humanists believe that God created the world.

Is that true or false? B: Many humanists believe the world began with a big bang.

Is that true or false? C: Most humanists believe they should ask questions and be curious about the origin of the world.

Is that true or false? You might want to write those down and put a tick.

You might want to talk about it.

Pause the video and have a think.

Oh what an amazing discussion I can hear.

Yes.

Some fantastic answers.

Let's have a look.

It's false.

Most humanists do not believe that God created the world.

Most humanists don't believe in God.

B: Many humanists believe the world began with a big bang.

Yes, it's true, isn't it? That's really important for most humanists.

C: Most humanists believe they should ask questions and be curious about the origin of the world.

That's true, isn't it? Remember Diane talked about her special book she read, she talked about the Big Bang and how when Amy grew up, she wanted to read her that book and she enjoyed asking these big questions.

Well done RE explorers if you've got those questions correct.

For the second part of our lesson, we're going to be asking this question, what meanings do humanists find? Hmm.

That's gonna be really interesting, isn't it? Diane is going to explain a bit more about her humanist worldview.

She says, "Sometimes I meet with other humanists to talk about our beliefs and how we find meaning in our lives.

I find meaning by being connected with other people in my local community and finding ways to make the world a better place." So that's interesting.

Diane doesn't go to a place of worship, but she does meet other humanists and they like to talk about their beliefs and think about how they can make the world a better place.

Diane's going to talk about her humanist beliefs about the natural world.

She says, "I believe science tells us that life evolved over millions of years after its origin of the Big Bang.

Human beings are part of the natural world, so we have a responsibility to look after it.

I want my children and grandchildren to enjoy the world too." So what is Diane saying there? She's saying that human beings evolved over millions of years, and we are part of the world as well.

Human beings are part of the natural world.

We're all part of the world, and that means we have a responsibility to look after it because we're part of the world.

We should look after it too.

And Diane wants to make sure that the world is good for her children and grandchildren.

Thank you, Diane.

That's really interesting.

Let's check our understanding here.

True or false? Many humanists believe life began with the Big Bang.

Is that true or false? Let's think about what Diane was just telling us.

Put our thinking caps on.

Pause the video and have a think.

I can hear some interesting answers and it's true.

Well done.

Most humanists do believe life began with the big bang.

Why? Because humanists use ideas of science to believe that life evolved over millions of years after the Big Bang.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's meet Nell.

Hello, Nell.

Nell goes to secondary school and she has a humanist worldview as well.

It's really important to talk to different people so we can see what ideas they have because not all humanists will have the same ideas.

And it's interesting to find out what different meanings they find.

Nell says, I learned a lot from my mom as I grew up.

My mom is a humanist and I consider myself to be a humanist too.

We have always talked about scientific ideas.

I learned about the origin of the world by reading books about the Big Bang.

Well, that's interesting, isn't it? So Nell is humanist because her mum was.

That's really interesting.

So we can learn that humanists might pass on their worldview to their children.

And secondly, she read a book about the Big Bang when she was young as well, a bit like Diane did.

And again, scientific ideas are really important to Nell like they're really important to Diane.

Nell explains how she finds meaning in her humanist beliefs.

"The area I live in has open countryside and hills around.

As a humanist, I take time to notice it each day and feel a sense of wonder and happiness at how beautiful it is.

I find meaning by taking responsibility for the world.

I try to make good choices such as buying secondhand clothes and not wasting things.

So what's important to now? Well, she's saying that she believes the world is a really important and precious place, and she loves to look at it and notice how beautiful it is.

And she also says we need to be responsible and look after the world.

So she tries to make good choices like buying secondhand clothes and not wasting things.

I have another true or false question for you here.

Humanists do not care about the world.

Is that true or false? Thinking cap time, pause the video and have a think.

Well, what do you think? It's false, isn't it? Humanists do care about the world.

I wonder why.

Well, many humanists find meaning in noticing how beautiful the world is.

Remember Nell was just telling us she noticed how beautiful the world was every day, and she also tries to do things like buy secondhand clothes to take care of the world.

Well done if you've got that answer right.

Let's meet Alan.

Now, Alan is married to Diane.

He's also a humanist, and we're going to find out about his worldview.

Alan says, as a humanist, I believe we only have one life, so we should make the most of each day.

Humans have different abilities that have evolved naturally.

I use my gardening skills to care for nature.

As Amy grows up, I will help her to use her talents to find meaning and to live a happy life.

So what's important to Alan? Well, he says he believes there's only one life and we need to make the most of it.

And he has his skills of gardening and he uses that to care for nature.

And he wants to make sure that when Amy grows up, she can have a happy life as well.

Alan's going to talk about what he believes about the origin of the world.

Alan says, "I believe the universe began all by itself at the Big Bang.

We have one precious world and humans are part of nature.

Human beings alone are responsible for caring for the earth.

For me, that means making choices each day about how to travel, what to buy, and how to live." So Alan also believes the universe began a big bang.

And it's our one precious world, our one beautiful planet out there, and we need to look after it.

And he has to think very carefully about what he buys and how he travels to take care of the world.

Let's check our understanding.

Why might humanists show care for the world? I want you to choose two answers.

A, because God created it.

B, because we are all part of nature.

C, because the world is beautiful and makes us happy.

Thinking caps on.

Think about what Alan and Diana and Nell have said and choose two answers, please.

Off you go.

Awesome and more amazing ideas here again.

It's B because we're all part of nature and C, because the world is beautiful and makes us happy.

Humanists don't believe in God.

So the answer can't be A.

Well done if you got that right.

We're going to do our second task now, thinking about this idea of what meanings do humanists find.

Aisha is wondering what humanists do to find meaning in the world.

Alex tells her that humanists make the most of each day by noticing how beautiful the world is.

Hmm, good thinking.

Alex, you've really been listening to our different case studies, haven't you? Can you give Alex and Aisha another two things that humanists might do to find meaning? Think about what our different characters told us.

Think about what our different characters told us.

Hmm? What did Mel say? What did Alan say? What did Diane say? Can you think of things they did to help find meaning in the world and make them think about this world and what a precious place it was? Maybe you could draw some of these ideas or write them in a list.

Let's have a little bit of time to think about it.

Thinking caps on RE experts.

I really look forward to seeing and hearing your ideas.

What a lot of amazing ideas you've had and what a lot of great work you've done.

You might have said people want to connect with other people in the community.

Diane talked about meeting other humanists, didn't she? They might want to find ways to care for the one world we have, they might want to talk about scientific ideas to find answers to big questions.

They might want to make the most of their abilities.

Alan was talking, wasn't he about his gardening skills and they might want to make good choices about caring for nature.

Did you think of any more ideas that we haven't mentioned there? Anything that Nell or Diane or Alan said? Well done if you've managed to come up with some of these ideas for yourself.

Absolutely brilliant thinking everybody.

Let's think about what we've been learning today.

We've been learning about humanists and how the world started.

We've learned that humanists think about the question of the origin of the world, how the world began.

Humanists look to the natural origin of the world using ideas from science.

Scientific accounts talk about life evolving over millions of years from a big bang.

Many humanists see the world as a beautiful and unique place that we should care for and value.

We've done so much learning today, haven't we all about humanism, and I hope you've thought about these ideas and they've made you think about what's important to you.

I've really enjoyed learning with you and look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you and bye.