Concepts and Essential Questions for a 7^th Grade World Religions Unit

7^th Grade geography standard:

7.1. Describe and compare the beliefs, the spread, and the influence of religions throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, Islam, Crusades, Holy Roman Empire.

Concepts: Religion, religious expansion

Essential questions:

·      What is a religion?

·      What are the differences between monotheism, polytheism and henotheism?

7^th Grade geography standard:

7.12 Compare and analyze human characteristics (e.g., population, land use, language, and religion) of places and regions in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Concepts:Spread and impact of religion

Essential questions:

·      How does religion affect government?

·      How does language affect the spread of religion?

·      Why are some religions specific to certain regions?

Pre-requisite Skills for World Religions Unit

Students should know what a religion is

Students can take Cornell notes

Students can compare and contrast

Students can research using a computer in the computer lab

Students can listen to and follow directions

Oregon State Standards for a 7^th Grade world religions unit

7.1. Describe and compare the beliefs, the spread, and the influence of religions throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, Islam, Crusades, Holy Roman Empire.

7.12 Compare and analyze human characteristics (e.g., population, land use, language, and religion) of places and regions in the Eastern Hemisphere.

7.18 Investigate current issues in the Eastern Hemisphere and how they relate to other countries, including the United States.

Goals for 7^th grade world religions unit

Students will understand the key concepts of religion.

Students will be able to understand the universality of tolerance and acceptance through religion.

Students will be able to compare and contrast the origins and tenets of the world’s major religions.

Objectives for 7^th Grade World Religions Unit

Objectives

Students will be able to describe the key terms related to religion (Cognitive, level 2: Comprehension).

Students will be able to compare three monotheistic religions (Cognitive, Level 5: Synthesis).

Students will be able to explain the core beliefs of at least 3 different religions (Cognitive, Level 2: Comprehension).

Students will be able to research a religion choosing important information and report the information on a poster (Cognitive, Level 6: Evaluation).

Students will be able to create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the origins and tenets of the World’s major religions (Cognitive, Level 4: Analysis).