Siddhartha Gautama as a historical figure
I can describe key events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama, explore divergent interpretations of his life, and evaluate their impact on Buddhists today.
Siddhartha Gautama as a historical figure
I can describe key events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama, explore divergent interpretations of his life, and evaluate their impact on Buddhists today.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- There are different interpretations of the story of Siddhartha Gautama's life.
- There are key events in his life story that link to Buddhist practices and beliefs.
- There are places of pilgrimage associated with his life that Buddhists may visit today.
- The first of the three jewels is the Buddha.
Keywords
Buddha - refers to 'the enlightened one'
Siddhartha Gautama - the founder of Buddhism; he became known as the Buddha
Lumbini - the birthplace of Siddhartha, in what is now Nepal
Bodh Gaya - located in north east India; considered to be the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment
Common misconception
The Buddha is God/a God.
The Buddha is a historical figure.
To help you plan your year 8 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha Gautama as a historical figure, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha Gautama as a historical figure, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 religious education lessons from the Buddhism: how significant are the three jewels to Buddhists? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
the true essence of all living things
the teachings of the Buddha
living with a good moral code and honouring God