Title: Excellent evolutionary potential or contradictions of humankind

Lesson plan elaborated by: Magdalena Trysińska

Topic:

Excellent evolutionary potential...

Target group:

8th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

1. Reading literary works. Student:

7) defines existential issues in the texts being studied and reflects them;

9) uses, in the interpretation of literary works, references to universal values related to social, national, religious and ethical attitudes and prioritises them;

10) uses in the interpretation of literary texts elements of knowledge about history and culture;

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

1) searches for the necessary information in the text and cites relevant parts of journalistic, popular or scientific texts;

2) organises information depending on their function in the message;

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

2) collects and organizes the material material needed to create statements; edits the compositional plan of his own statement;

5) differentiates the example from the argument;

6) carry out the inference as part of the argumentative argument;

7) agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion.

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

3) formulates questions to the text;

4) performs a voice interpretation of texts read and delivered

IV. Self‑study. Student:

8) develops the ability to think critically and formulate opinions.

The general aim of education

Reflection on the positive and negative effects of the evolution of the humankind.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• social and civic competences;

• cultural awareness and expression.

Operational objectives

Student:

• recognises the different meanings of the word „evolution”, reads meaning from dictionary definitions;

• reads the text of the text „Non‑interference” by Janusz A. Zajdel;

• determines the mood of the literary text;

• gives the features of science fiction literature;

• discusses the positive and negative achievements of mankind.

Teaching methods / techniques

• problematic: directed conversation, discussion;

• programmed: using a computer and e‑textbook;

• practical: objective exercises, work with literary text.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• collective activity;

• group activity.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the purpose of the class, which is the reflection on the positive and negative effects of the evolution of the humankind. He/she gives students the criteria for success.

2. The teacher introduces students to the subject asking: Imagine you are aliens who come to Earth or have the opportunity to peep at people and their activities for some time. How would you rate a man and their world?

3. The teacher asks students to do the task 1. in abstract, which aims to recall the different meanings of the word „evolution” and to improve the ability to read the dictionary information about the meaning of a word.

Realization

1. The teacher provokes a brief discussion about human evolution. He or she asks students to give different evolutionary achievements and justify which of them can be considered the most important for the humankind.

2. Students read the text „Nieingerencja” by Janusz A. Zajdel, and then they discuss it, guided by the questions available below the text.

3. The teacher asks students to do ex. 4 and 5 in the abstract, which are intended to organize the knowledge regarding the text read. Students divide information into real and false (reading comprehension) and evaluate which information in the text is positive and which is a negative prediction for humanity (text interpretation).

4. The teacher reads the sentence from Zajdel's text: „Tyle jest innych, pięknych i ciekawych zajęć” - Numi’s thought in the short story, saddened by the fact that the boy creates a weapon. Students give examples of their own ideas of inventions that could make life easier for people.

5. The teacher displays an interactive board showing a screen with several inventions created by man (in abstract). Then the teacher asks students to note examples of their positive and negative impact on humanity. Different answers should be an impulse for discussion.

Summary

1. The teacher asks students what they have learned today, whether the lesson was interesting for them. He or she asks them to evaluate their own work during the lesson. For this purpose, they can use the questionnaire or decision tree prepared earlier or carry out an oral evaluation.

2. Students write in their notebooks the key words they consider the most important. They justify their choice.

Homework

Prepare for a discussion.

Split up into two groups, each group randomly chooses a role to play, using the knowledge gained during the lesson:

• the role of advocates who present positive traits and achievements of the humankind as more important than human flaws and weaknesses;

• the role of prosecutors who present negative tendencies and tragic achievements of the humankind.

Remember that the „hero” of your performance is human civilization, humanity as a collective, and not human as individual being.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Excellent evolutionary potential or contradictions of humankind

Have you ever thought about how would you judge a man and his world, if you could look at them from a different perspective, for example „from the outside”? This intriguing question inspires philosophers, scientists and artists. This question also appears in the literature, especially in the science‑fiction literature. This is due to the fact, that in this type of writing the issues of other, inhuman forms of life and intelligence are very popular. Sometimes this theme is used only to manifest things that are exotic and unknown to the recipient. However, sometimes, it is a starting point for the reflection on the humankind, humanity and civilisation created by people.