Module 3: RESPECT LIFE

Page 16

The pages thus produced could be used to create either an individual or group illustration of the natural cycle of life. This will give you an opening to develop what has already been revealed about their approach to the subject of death. It will also provide material for topic four Who's past it?, if you wish to use it.

activity two

This activity is on worksheet 5 page 17 Dead reckoning and is based on a piece of research to be done at home over a period of a week, involving watching television and recording deaths seen or reported. There is an opportunity here to confront false perceptions and to differentiate from fiction the reality of personal experience.

It could be helpful to discuss why writers of fiction use conflict and death in their stories. Within drama these events often communicate elements such as good and evil or right and wrong. It could be important for the class to discern what these messages are and how they affect individual pupils' attitudes to human life and the need to respect it.

activity three

Questions and other activities are developed from a case-study of Craig, a young person whose life is in the balance, which shows how he and his parents coped with the situation, worksheet 6 page 19 No pain, no gain.

Aspects you could discuss from such a story are:

• How important is honesty (lack of secrecy) in such matters as life and death?
• What and who should determine how much treatment is given to a person whose chance of continued life is low? Why?