Big Ideas
Big Ideas
Religious belief, across time and place, is a common aspect of many human societies.
Religion can powerfully shape social, political, legal, and environmental values.
Comparing beliefs provides insights into and understanding of diverse global cultures and peoples.
An individual’s search for existential insight and transcendence can be shaped by a variety of different religious, spiritual, or philosophical traditions.
Content
Learning Standards
Content
characteristics of religion, mythology, and spirituality
- Key questions:
- What is religion?
- What is the relationship between spirituality and worldviews for First Peoples in Canada?
core beliefs, practices, and ethics of world religions, including spirituality in First Peoples cultures
- Sample topics:
- doctrines and teachings
- worship, meditation, and prayer
- pillars of Islam
- observances and holidays
approaches to doctrines or belief systems
- Sample topics:
- role of baptism
- conversion to belief
- evangelism
- non-belief
institutional and social structures
- Sample topics:
- power relationships in religious leadership
- monastic communities
- theocracy
- caliphates
- church councils and assemblies
- churches, mosques, and temples
sacred texts, traditions, and narratives
- Sample topics:
- indigenous oral traditions
- Biblical texts
- Pentateuch
- Quran, sharia
- myths
art, architecture, narratives, and other forms of expression
- Sample topics:
- Cordoba, Spain
- Hagia Sophia
- Renaissance
relationship between religion and government at different times and places
Curricular Competency
Learning Standards
Curricular Competency
Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
Explain the significance of texts, philosophies, events, or developments at particular times and places within various belief systems (significance)
Compare and evaluate artifacts as evidence of the cultural influence of religion (evidence)
- Key question:
- How is building design evidence of a religion’s cultural influence?
Compare the growth and decline of religions over time, and determine the extent of continuity and changes in core beliefs and practices (continuity and change)
- Key question:
- To what extent do modern religious practices adhere to ancient practices?
Assess origins and influences of religious movements and groups (cause and consequence)
- Key questions:
- What was the role of the Roman Empire in the early growth of Christianity in the 1st century?
- In what ways did Christianity influence the Roman Empire?
Explain different religious perspectives on past or present people, places, issues, or events (perspective)
- Key questions:
- What arguments do mainstream Canadian religious communities make about doctor-assisted suicide?
- Is the “golden rule” common to all major religious belief systems? Explain your answer.
Assess the accuracy of representations of religion in media and popular culture (critical media literacy)