We have been thinking deeply and entering into great discussions this week during our P4C sessions.
In Matariki, we studied this image.
Some questions we considered:
Do rats have feelings? Morals? Values?
Is it okay to test on animals if the product will save a life? your life?
Is it okay to test of rats because they're... kind of gross?
You will see from our notes that we covered a lot of topics in this short session. We are keen to revisit this and explore these ideas in greater depth.
What is P4C? A conversation is facilitated by giving everyone a chance to share their thinking. Students are able to add on to others ideas or challenge them. It is encouraged that they provide an explanation for their thinking. We have some very keen philosophers among us!
The aims of Philosophy for children are:
to encourage creative, critical and collaborative thinking
to learn to listen and contribute to discussions
to understand different perspectives
If you want to find out more about Philosophy for Children this article is a great place to start.
For our Inquiry, we have been thinking about different mysteries of the Universe. We wondered about the creation of the Universe and how something came from nothing. One theory that we thought about was the Big Bang Theory.
We have been developing our conversation skills. We are thinking about taking turns, building on ideas and staying focused on the question. We have been self assessing and rating ourselves out of 5.
Here are some of the questions that we came up with after our discussion:
James: Are there other life forms in the galaxy?
Will, Nye: Do we have multi universes? Does that mean there are multiple versions of us?
Nikora and Hunter: How is the universe infinite?
Pippa: In the future, will there be people that can make a vessel to go to another universe?
Taiga: What kinds of volcanoes or mountains or sculptures are there on other planets?
Chris: How many years until the next big bang?
Archie: How did humans come after the big bang?
Nela: How did all of the small rocks form into planets? How did stars form and what are they made of?
Anastasiya: How was the first person even made?
Leo, Mitchell: What was the old universe like if there was one? What did it look like?
Zac: Why did the big bang happen?
Nuala: What is the universe expanding into?
Leo: How did life get onto earth? Why not Mars?
Ridley, Eloi: What happened in the big bang to enable life? What makes life?
Zoe: After the big bang, how did planets form?
Caspian: How was the first thing created?
Evan: What was there before the big bang?
Lucy: How did life form?
Eloi: What makes the universe, the universe?
Rim: How did people get made? Who was the first person?
Theo: How did atoms create life? How many galaxies are there?
Adam: How did the big bang happen? Are scientists actually working on whether the big bang is real?
Georgia: How did everything get created? What is nothingness?
Raffy, Matilda: What does nothing look like? What was the first thing that happened after the big bang? What did the atoms create? How were all of the planets and stars formed?
Liam: What is the chance of the big bang happening again?
Clem: How did the big bang explode?
Addison: Was the big bang a scam?
Blaze: What came first?
Jasmine: What came before the big bang?
Elliot, Edward? What is dark matter made of?
Lillian: Why does the universe expand? How does it expand?
Alex: Was there an old universe before this universe?
Eva: Why do we not always see the stars?
Emily: How many galaxies are there?
Matthias: Why don’t planets collide?
Mae: How did the scientists develop the theory of the big bang?
Lachlan: What is the biggest planet? (not just in our solar system)
Finley: How was the ball of matter created before the big bang happened?
Griffin: How are religious beliefs linked to the big bang theory? What are the other creation theories?
Finn: What is dark matter? How does the universe expand when there is nothing else/ no space for it?
Sam: What was before the universe?
Kura: How small can the universe get to?
Naomi: Will our universe collapse?
Tommy, Dylan: Are we in a black hole? If we are, what happens when we get out?
Kate: How long can people survive in space?
Jake? How has the universe have no boundaries?
Ruby: If the universe is infinite, how can there be more than one universe?
Joni: Is the universe black? Why is the universe black?
Talia: Is there going to be another big bang?
Sophie: What was the big bang made out of?
Isabella: Was there people before the big bang? Was there life in the previous universe?
Sitara: What are planets made of?
Octavia: How big is the universe?
Lily: How did the planets get their names?
Cleo: What created the old universe (if there was one)?
Marnie: Did the big bang actually take over the whole universe or just a small part?
Katherine: How big was the hot spot of matter that exploded?
Molly and Ben Bi: Was there a universe before the big bang?
Stella: Was there life in the old universe?
Greta: Are there more universes out there? How could we find out?
Ollie: What was it like straight after the big bang?
Charlotte: How could a big bang create the universe?
Cruz: How many atoms are in the universe?
Ben Be, Konrad: If there was life before the big bang, what was it like?
Sabine, Mae: What caused the big bang?
Sammy: If there was a planet that had equal mass as the big bang (before it exploded) how high would the gravity force be?
Thomas: Can there be a universe within a universe?
We watched the music video to the Missy Higgins song "Oh Canada." The art from the clip is drawn by children affected by the crisis in the Middle East narrating the story of the Kurdi family, who left Syria heading for Canada.
The clip is sad and stirred some emotions. We had an in depth discussion about refugees and why people might be forced to leave their home country. Our students generated some great questions to begin with.
As our Inquiry progresses we will be thinking about how we could welcome new people to our community.
Our students discussing the messages from the clip.
We have created rights and responsibilities for respectful discussion:
The process of discussion is both collaborative and critical, requiring each participant to be willing to:
offer their own ideas for evaluation
build on the ideas of others
bring ideas into the inquiry that no other participant has voiced, but which need consideration
offer critical evaluations of others' ideas
accept critical evaluations of their own ideas
at times subsume their own concerns to the process of the group
explicitly utilise a range of thinking strategies to refine and advance the inquiry.
As part of our Inquiry "Where we dance" we read some different stories to get us thinking about community. We listened to the story, Quaky Cat (this is a story from a cat's point of view about the earthquake in Christchurch.) We had some great discussions and debate about what is the definition of home. We came up with some interesting ideas about what "home" means.
During our discussion we put ourselves on a continuum. Some of us agreed with Henry who said you don’t need a house to feel at home (you just need to be safe). Some of us agreed with Caspian who said home should be a building (a shelter).
Caspian
A home is something that shelters you. It usually has somewhere you can sleep, somewhere where you can eat, play and cook. Alex’s idea is home is something that you like. If you are homeless you sleep in a blanket or cardboard box. Alex would say it is home for a homeless person. It is just putting a cardboard box and sleeping there waiting for some money and it doesn’t have shelter for you. It is like putting a chair in the middle of the road. You can’t call that your home.
Griffin
A home is a place where you feel safe. Even though some people live on the streets they still call it a home. Some people were born on the streets and love living on the streets. They would still call anything a home, maybe a tent, a shelter, a bench or anything as long as it feels nice and comfortable. You might think it has to be a shelter but it doesn't, if it was then a house would be called a home.
Chris
home is not a quake or shiver
home is not a piece of life
home is not to tear you apart
home is not a monster.
Home is not for you tear apart
Home is here for YOU !
Jasmine and Stella
Home is a place were you feel safe and secure. Home is somewhere you can meet your family and live with your family. Home can be a place can be out side on a beach or in a park. Home is a a place that you will never forget till you die, even if you go round carrying a blanket and you sleep in the same place. It is still a home.
Alex
The Definition Of A Home Is:
A warm/cozy place that you feel safe in.
A place where you can make/ have memories.
Where you can rest and stay sheltered from bad weather or bad people.
A home is a place that makes you happy in the heart and soul.
A place where you can eat, sleep and proses your pride positions.
All around a place where you can live.
Not A Home:
Cold ,dark and empty place
A bus stop
A place where your not happy
Thomas
What is a definition of a home? where your family come together. When you feel safe and have an eco-friendly environment. it’s a place where you can rest and just be yourself and calms you down after a hard day at work. A home can be any were but you need to feel safe. A house is just a building but a home is safe happy and cheerful a home is were you belong.
Flynn
A home is a place where you live which doesn't have to be a building like you could live on the street but if you keep coming back it is sort of a home or it could be a building. Some people say a home is wherever you feel safe but I can feel safe in a hug but that isn't my home because it isn't where I live.
Hunter T
A home is a place where you are safe,
A home is a place where you can rest and relax,
A home is a place where your family can come together,
A home is a place where you can play games and be silly.
I like home because I can invite friends over,
I like home because I can pick a clover,
I like home because I can be with my Dog,
I like home because I usually don't see a hedgehog.
