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Lesson plan: Planet X
From the Developing Rights online resource
Age group: 11 - 14
Aims:
To encourage pupils to consider their own priorities in terms of
rights.
To provide opportunities to practise negotiation skills.
What to do:
Preparation: it may be helpful to hold some initial discussion on
what rights are, but do not try to reach a definition – pupils
will come to their own understanding of the term through the activities.
Pupils will need individual writing materials and you will need
a large sheet of paper to display the class list.
Begin by setting the scene as imaginatively as possible. The following
paragraph might be a useful introduction.
‘A colony is to be established on Planet X, an ‘Earth-like’
planet in the Gamma quadrant. You are lucky to have been chosen
for this exciting new life! Your colony has the initial task of
drawing up a code of rights for everyone on the planet. This will
be done in several stages.’
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The journey through space
Explain to the pupils that they are on their way to Planet X
and are now in hyper-isolation. Ask each pupil to draw up a
personal list of ten essentials that they feel they need for
their new life. These might be practical things they will need
to survive, but they could also be ideas about how life on the
new planet is to be organised. They should rank their list in
order, with ‘1’ as the most important.
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In planetary orbit
Whilst pupils circle Planet X they meet up with a fellow traveller.
Ask each pupil to share his or her list of essentials with a
partner and agree on a shared list of ten rights. They should
note down their reasons for deciding what to include and what
to leave out and keep these lists for later reference.
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On landing
Now that pupils have landed on the new planet, each pair should
join together with another and agree a common list of ten rights.
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First colony meeting
Now the whole class should join together and agree on a common
statement of ten rights. Everyone must be happy before final
decisions are made. Make a large copy of the list which everyone
can refer to. Explain that it will now become the responsibility
of the whole colony to make sure that these rights are maintained.
In this activity, the process of moving through stages of consultation
to an agreed class list is important. Allow sufficient time for
pupils to discuss the rights that have been discarded. It would
also be useful to go back to the initial discussion on rights. Do
pupils have further ideas that they would like to add? How easy
is it to agree upon rights? What might the differences be between
needs and wants?
Curriculum links:
| England |
Scotland |
Wales |
| English:
- Group discussion and interaction - different contributions;
different views into account; sift and summarise; help the
group complete its task.
Citizenship/PSHE:
- Communicate confidently with peers and adults; participate;
consider social and moral dilemmas. |
English:
- Listening in groups; talking in groups; talking about experiences,
feelings and opinions.
Religious and Moral Education:
- Relationships and moral values.
PSD:
- Social development. |
English:
- Group discussion and interaction - different contributions;
different views into account; sift and summarise; help the
group complete its task.
PSE:
- Listen attentively in different situations and respond appropriately;
communicate confidently one's feelings and views; empathise
with others' experiences and feelings. |
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