Materials needed: Paper, writing utensil Description: First, put these three words on the board: conclusion, premise, argument. Ask the students what these words mean. Often students will need a little guidance here because this is a foreign way of thinking for them. Then give them a very simple argument. For example: P1. If you’re about to … Reasoning and Arguments
Materials needed: Piece of paper, writing utensil Description: First ask the students what makes an action “good” and what makes an action “wrong.” Create a list on the board. Some things often brought up for good actions are that they are directed at helping others, are beneficial in some way, and aren’t against the law. For … Shallow Pond and Charity
Self-driving cars are already cruising the streets today. And while these cars will ultimately be safer and cleaner than their manual counterparts, they can’t completely avoid accidents altogether. How should the car be programmed if it encounters an unavoidable accident? Patrick Lin navigates the murky ethics of self-driving cars. Patrick Lin navigates the murky ethics … The Ethics of Self-driving Cars
In this middle school philosophy lesson plan, students express the degree of confidence they have in the truth of various statements.
Materials Needed: Several very large sheets of butcher paper (especially with younger students, writing is big and fills up the paper quickly). A few good ethical dilemmas (I list my favorites below). Various colored markers/pens for each student. Preparation: Write or glue one ethical dilemma onto each sheet of butcher paper. Arrange desks/tables into several … Silent Discussion on Ethical Dilemmas
Materials Needed: Legos (the more the better) Something on which to display/write out class thoughts (chalkboard, whiteboard, SMARTboard) Camera (optional) Preparation: Have Legos divided up according to how groups will be organized, e.g. in separate piles or in one large pile. Description: 1. (Optional) Warm up and get a sense of our intuitions about the … Identity & Essence Lego Activity
Friendship & Betrayal – Split or Steal Game Materials Needed: Equipment to display a YouTube video clip for the class (with sound). A pair of red and green leaflets for each participant or group. Prizes for each student For younger students: Treats like donuts or strawberries which can be split in half. For older students: … Friendship & Betrayal – Split or Steal Game
To introduce this lesson, the instructor will draw a line on the board with marks from 1 to 10. 1 is “completely fiction,” 10 is “completely non-fiction,” and in-between might be marked, “based on a true story.” The class will be asked where on the number line a standard newspaper might fall. At the end … Examining Perspectives in the News
Existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre in Nausea Students will be introduced to Existentialism through discussion and excerpts from Jean-Paul Sartre’s novel, Nausea, which describes a certain vague feeling that the main character, Roquentin, calls “nausea”. This feeling is basically a result of suspecting that there is a reality behind what we perceive as reality, an objective … Exploring Existential Angst and The Self in Social Media
Materials needed: Prior to Bowl: A useful general description of ethics designed for High School Ethics Bowls – to use as supplement to in-class teaching (see Supplemental Materials below) Copies of cases (given to students to prepare) from the National High School Ethics Bowl archives (sample case provided below) For Bowl: Scoring criteria (available on … In-Class Ethics Bowl
PLATO is part of a global UNESCO network that encourages children to participate in philosophical inquiry. As a partner in the UNESCO Chair on the Practice of Philosophy with Children, based at the Université de Nantes in France, PLATO is connected to other educational leaders around the world.
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