YEARS 56 KS 2 Ages 9 11 AWE

YEARS 5&6 | KS 2 Ages 9 -11 AWE & WONDER EXPLORING OURSELVES

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 In this lesson you will need: q q q Internet access Projector and screen Speakers Thought. Box scrapbook or rough paper Pens and pencils (different colours) Here is a list of resources you will need for this lesson. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

LESSON 1 | AWE & WONDER FEELING INSPIRED 60 MINUTES

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 In this lesson, we will: Think about some of the awe-inspiring and powerful things that surround us and fill us with wonder. Understand what it means to find and to feel awe and wonder in the world. Explore some of life’s big questions and how they might make us feel. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE 20 MINUTES

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 This Thought. Box topic is about awe and wonder and exploring some of the big feelings and ideas that are all around us in the world. We live in a big and truly wonderful world, full of mysteries, questions and things to explore! There are many things we do not know and that may seem scary, but at the same time not knowing is a very exciting and beautiful thing. In this first lesson, we are going to start being curious and exploring some of the world’s wonders and mysteries together. Are you ready? ! COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 There are many big questions that we have in the world. These are questions that don’t have simple answers, or we don’t yet know the answers to, or that maybe can’t be answered! For example: COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Why do we dream? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Is the ocean alive? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Where do the stars come from? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 To begin this topic and to start exploring some of the big feelings we get when we explore these big questions, let’s take a look at this short film (3 minutes) developed by astrophysicist Danail Obreschkow entitled: Cosmic Eye (Click on link to watch. ) COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Take a moment to connect with the feelings you had when watching that film. Now share with the class: How did you feel as you watched this film? What did it make you think and feel? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 This film takes the viewer on a journey to the largest and smallest known scales of the universe, zooming out from the face and body of a young woman and then zooming back in again and zooming inside! Did you find it more powerful to zoom out beyond the Milky Way, thousands of light years away? Or did you find it more aweinspiring to zoom into the human body and the smallest parts of our DNA? Or both? ! Share your thoughts with the class. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 These feelings of awe and wonder can be powerful experiences and can leave us with very big feelings. They can be triggered by things that are all around us and that we encounter every day. Can you think of something you have zoomed out on, as if taking a step back to view a bigger picture? What was it? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Can you think of something you have zoomed in on, as if looking through a magnifying glass? What was it? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Engaging with the world in this way can make us experience new and powerful feelings. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 In this lesson we are going to take the time to explore some of the amazing things that are all around us that give us these big feelings of awe and wonder. We will discover that there is beauty and excitement in mystery and in not knowing, and that our responses to things we see and hear can be wonderful, even if we do not have all the answers to those big questions. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Watch this short film (2: 04 minutes) made by the BBC featuring David Attenborough entitled: What a Wonderful World (Click link to watch. ) As you watch, see if you can how the film makes you feel and where in your body you feel a response. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Share some of the feelings and sensations you experienced in response to the film and the music. Why might the natural world give us these big feelings? Have you ever experienced these feelings in nature? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

FINDING WONDER 20 MINUTES

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 As a class, take some time to discuss these questions together: What do we mean by ‘awe’ and ‘wonder’? Can you think of other words to explain these feelings? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Some of the other ways we might describe awe and wonder are shown below. Work in pairs. Take three minutes to think about and discuss each of the four ideas below. Then copy your own version of this grid and note down under each title your ideas about what you understand by these words. Afterwards, share your thoughts and reflections with the class. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Every single one of us will have experienced awe and wonder. It is a feeling that is mysterious, fleeting, and that is hard to grasp and describe. It often overcomes us when we are standing in front of something vast and we are feeling very small. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Or we might experience similar feelings when we stop to look at something very small that we usually just ignore and not view as significant. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Feelings of fear, shock and uncertainty might provoke feelings of awe and wonder as well. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 We might be moved by music, art or literature. These feelings of awe and wonder can move us to powerful and unexpected emotions. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Click on the link to listen to a short (3: 14 minutes) piece of music: Vivaldi Four Seasons Winter Nigel Kennedy. Whilst you are listening to the music, write down all of the different experiences or encounters that might give us big feelings of awe and wonder in our lives. Share together in the class when you have finished. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

ASKING THE BIG QUESTIONS 20 MINUTES

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Life is full of big questions: • Questions that might arise out of nowhere, or be prompted by something you have seen or felt. • Questions that seem to create more questions, rather than answers. • Questions that perhaps you – or maybe any of us – just don’t have the knowledge to answer. . . We looked at some of these questions earlier, questions such as: COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Where do the stars come from? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Is the ocean alive? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Why do we dream? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Can trees talk to each other? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Where do we go when we die? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Take a moment to think about one or more of these big questions and share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 Now let’s watch this short film (2: 10 minutes) made by TED Ed entitled: Questions no-one knows the answers to (Click on link to watch. ) COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 How do these kinds of questions make you feel? COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 All of us, young and old, have a huge number of big questions that we carry around with us. We may never answer them but they are wonderful to think about! To finish this lesson, we’re going to make a QUESTION LIBRARY. Everyone take a post-it note or piece of paper and write down one (or more) BIG question. Then stick your post-its up on the board (or if you wish to keep these, you could make a wall space or an area in the room where they can be kept. ) Now everyone ‘check-out’ of the library someone else’s question and spend a few minutes thinking to yourself about these ideas. Take it in turns to share some of your thoughts, ideas and questions with the class. COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

EXPLORING OURSELVES | Awe & Wonder – Y 5&6 | Lesson 1 In this lesson, we have begun to think about some of life’s big questions and how these may make us feel. Next lesson, we will think about where we might look to find some of these answers and think about whether or not we really need to find them! COPYRIGHT@2021 THOUGHTBOX EDUCATION

AWE & WONDER THIS SORT OF LEARNING CAN’T WAIT