Attitudes to wealth and its uses
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the benefits and problems of wealth and how it is distributed and used in society.
Key learning points
- Wealth includes money, possessions, resources and opportunities.
- Absolute poverty means lacking basic needs (e.g., living on less than $2.15 per day).
- Relative poverty depends on location; in the UK, it’s below 60% of median income.
- Some see wealth as driving growth, increasing happiness and enabling freedom.
- Others link it to inequality, reduced empathy and oppression.
Keywords
Inequality - the unfair or uneven distribution of resources, opportunities or rights among people in society
Poverty - the state of being without the things needed for a reasonable quality of life, so that day-to-day living is a struggle
Wealth - the money, possessions, resources and opportunities a person has
Common misconception
Wealth only refers to money and expensive possessions.
Wealth also includes resources, opportunities, education and access to services.
Teacher tip
Use real world examples and compare different countries or historical periods to show how wealth is created and distributed.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which teaching of Jesus most directly supports the idea of human rights and equality?
Q2.How does the commandment to love your neighbour influence Christian social action?
Q3.Christians believe that Jesus is the of the world, meaning he came to save humanity from sin and offer eternal life.
Q4.What does the belief that humans are created "in the image of God" suggest about human dignity in Christian teaching?
Q5.How does the concept of human dignity influence Christian attitudes toward human rights?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.When basic needs like food and shelter are unmet, this is called ...
Q2.When wealth is unfairly shared among people, this causes .
Q3.What is relative poverty?
Q4.What did Karl Marx think about wealth?
Q5.How does wealth provide personal freedom?
Q6.Which of these is a misconception about wealth?
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Attitudes to wealth and its uses, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Attitudes to wealth and its uses, 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 4 religious education lessons from the Religion, human rights and social justice unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.