This multi-use interactive philosophy lesson explores philosophical and ethical issues relating to space, space exploration and alien life. This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore philosophy in science lessons with students aged 8-16; we’ve carefully selected the most significant issues and questions relating to space and space exploration so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as: Cosmology: the nature and potential origins of space and the universe Ethical issues such as: The rights of native species when colonising planets Terraforming Artificial panspermia The development of space-based weaponry Extra-terrestrial life One of the main philosophical debates explored by this instructional resource concerns ‘the fabric of space’: the debate between ‘Substantivalism’ (the view that space exists in addition to any material bodies situated within it) and the contrasting view ‘Relationalism’ which claims that there is no such thing as space; there are just material bodies, spatially related to one another. According to the relationalist view, what we call ‘space’ is literally just the empty nothingness between things that actually exist (atoms, planets, etc.). The big question asked in this session is “Is colonising other planets actually a good idea?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical and moral questions such as: What is ‘space’ made of? (if anything) In what ways might aliens be different to us in terms of how they communicate, think and feel? If you reached the edge of space (the edge of the universe) and threw a rock over the edge: what would happen? To what extent is it a good idea for large corporations to lead humanity when it comes to space exploration? How would the discovery of alien life impact humanity? Students will also analyse and evaluate an eclectic mix of philosophical claims such as: “If aliens exist, they’ll probably be hostile and unfriendly” “The Universe had a beginning, and it will have an end” “It’s more important to focus on fixing the environmental issues on our planet than exploring space” and “Unless we colonise other planets it is only a matter of time before humanity goes extinct” This session uses our unique format for philosophy teaching resources and features an integrated menu that allows teachers to select from a variety of starter, main, plenary, assessment and end-of-lesson reflection activities. With a massive selection of activities designed to trigger philosophical discussions, debates and reflections: you can re-use the resource numerous times with the same group.

This multi-use interactive philosophy lesson explores ‘Philosophy of Science’: the branch of philosophy that’s concerned with the nature, foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore philosophy of science with students aged 8-16; we’ve carefully selected the most significant issues and questions relating to philosophy of science so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as: The nature of science The ways in which scientists pursue knowledge Strengths and weaknesses of the scientific method The nature of pseudoscience and how to identify it It outlines and explores different concepts from philosophers of science including empiricism and naturalism as well as the views of Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes, Duhem, Feyerabend and Cartwright (in the advanced reading section). The big question asked in this session is “To what extent is science the most valid way to gain knowledge?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical questions such as What is science? What is the difference between ‘scientific knowledge claims’ and other types of knowledge claim? How can we tell the difference between pseudoscience and actual science? To what extent is the materialist view (that only physical matter exists) accurate? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific method of pursuing knowledge? This session uses our unique format for philosophy teaching resources and features an integrated menu that allows teachers to select from a variety of starter, main, plenary, assessment and end-of-lesson reflection activities. With a massive selection of activities designed to trigger philosophical discussions, debates and reflections: you can re-use the resource numerous times with the same group. This resource is especially suitable for teachers of science who are looking to explore the nature of science and the scientific method more deeply with students and bring philosophy, philosophical thinking and critical thinking into their science lessons. The file is a PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy! This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16; due to the flexible nature of the sessions design it can be used for multiple hour-long sessions or as a short stimulating tutor-group activity.

This printable workbook is suitable for homework, classwork or distance learning: it will help your students to get more from watching documentaries and videos. This colourful printable booklet includes ten learning sessions spread over twenty pages. You could also just print a couple of pages from this workbook to create a worksheet for an instant video-learning lesson: ideal for cover lessons! This teaching resource is designed for GCSE Physics and deals with a broad range of relevant topics. The workbook is suitable for all specifications. The workbook includes links to ten different documentaries or lengthily videos and straight-forward note-taking and comprehension activities so as to structure and foster engagement with the documentary whilst enhancing student learning. The twenty-page workbook was designed with homework in mind and contains ten different homework sessions. I would suggest using the booklet as a simple way to take care of ‘every other homework’ and use it to supplement your other approaches to homework: just print the booklets out and give them to your students. You can also use the booklets just as well in a classroom setting and they are incredibly easy to use such that even a non-specialist cover-teacher could make use of them. They’re also an ideal way to bolster your distance learning provisions in times of student absence. Over time some of the links in this workbook might expire, I’ll try to update them from time to time but the workbook is easy to edit - so make sure you check that the links still work before printing and update any broken/defunct links that might crop-up! I’ve done my best to include links to the best videos available for this topic: teachers should ensure that the video links included are suitable for their specific classes. Copyright Adam Godwin (2020)

An important aspect of metacognition concerns the student’s understanding of motivation, after all: metacognition is the personal study of one’s thought and learning-processes and student motivation towards a given subject is influenced by their thoughts and attitudes towards it. One of the surest ways to increase motivation is by providing a clear understanding of the reasons, benefits and advantages that come with studying particular subjects. This download contains over thirty PowerPoints presentations: one for each school subject. The purpose of the presentations is to lead discussions and debates about the value of each subject. Each session contains: A Starter Discussion Prompts Video Links A Writing-Based Assessment Task Plenaries/AfL Debate Prompts The general strategy of the sessions is to get students to: Explore the personal significance of the selected subject Understand why the subject is taught Identify the importance of the subject: how it benefits the student and wider community Determine potential connections to their career ambitions Each session follows the same format so it’s probably best not to use them all at once with students within a short time-frame! They are, nonetheless, a great resource to have available to your teachers so that they can be used as interventions for individuals or groups that are struggling with motivation in a given subject. The preview images show the general approach each session follows, using the ‘English Literature’ session as an example. Thank you for looking at our resources! Make sure to download some of our free samples: just visit globalmetacognition.com We offer a range of whole-school metacognition resources that aim to enhance metacognitive skills and strategies in students aged 11-16. You can download individual resources or buy our ‘Whole School Metacognition Toolkits’ that make establishing a whole-school metacognition initiative easy. Our resources specialise in: Boosting Learning-Power Teaching Metacognitive Skills & Strategies Increasing Metacognitive Power (Intelligence, Memory etc.) These resources are made and distributed in partnership with The Global Metacognition Institute. Find more metacognition resources at globalmetacognition.com Join our Facebook Metacognition Working Group for Teachers & Leaders! https://www.facebook.com/groups/EducationalMetacognition/ Copyright Adam Godwin (2019)