Belief Systems Webquest

Why do we have belief systems?

The question, “Why do we need belief systems?” has always been a difficult one to answer. Some people try to answer this question by pointing out that everything we know, we know because we believe it. Then there are other people. For example, take someone who strongly believes in Christianity. This person would say that we need Christianity because Christianity is true. While these are interesting answers to the question, “Why do we need belief systems?” most historians tend to understand belief systems different. Historians often break belief systems into three categories, history, key beliefs and codes of behavior, and state purpose. Historians like to say that everything comes from history, especially belief systems.

For example, Taoism, a Chinese belief system that believes in universal harmony, originated with a historical figure named Lao-Tzu. Lao-Tzu lived in China at the court of the emperor. He was in charge of all the royal records in China. By the time he turned eighty, Lao-Tzu was upset about the way that people in China lived, so he decided to leave for the mountains. As he left, a soldier in the royal palace, impressed by his wisdom, asked him to write all of his knowledge down. He wrote the Tao Te Ching and this is was the birth of Taoism.

Historians also say that we have belief systems to tell people how to behave. The Jewish belief system is based on following a set of rules given to the Jewish people by God. This set of rules is called the Covenant. Most historians say that the Jewish people probably created these rules over thousands of years in the deserts surrounding Mesopotamia. These historians say that the rules of the Jewish covenant are very similar to and probably influenced by Hammurabi’s Code. According to these historians, Judaism evolved as a way to guide the behavior of the Jewish people.

Finally, historians point out that most belief systems have a stated purpose. For example, the state purpose of Buddhism is to rid the world of suffering by riding people of their selfish desire. This purpose came about because the Buddha, who was once a rich Indian prince, saw that people in his kingdom suffered and wanted to try to help them. It is difficult to say for certain why we have belief systems. Some historians think that we have them simply for historical reasons. Other historians think that we have them as a way to control the behavior of people. Still other historians think that belief systems for a specific purpose. Some people disagree and claim we don’t need belief systems at all. Which ever one thinks, it is important to learn about many belief systems so that we can better understand our own beliefs.

Your task is to work through the stages of Design Thinking in order to create an interactive booklet of materials that your peers will use to teach themselves about a particular belief system. Use the following resources to complete the Process phase:

Stanford History Education Group

World History Primary Sources - George Mason University

Library of Congress - Primary and Secondary Sources

DEFINE

Directions: In your group think about your belief system, and below answer the questions. REMEMBER you are trying to teach other students about your belief system! (You may not know all of this information yet but it will guide you when designing your exhibits) Think about what information should be the MOST IMPORTANT when making your exhibits. ANSWER IN FULL SENTENCES!

1. Which belief system do you have?

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2. Is your belief system monotheistic or polytheistic?

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3. Does your belief system have a specific founder? (ex: Buddha)

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4. Is your belief system based on following a set of rules? Is there a sacred text that explains these rules? (ex: Ten Commandments in the Torah or Bible)

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5. Is your belief system based on a “state of purpose?” (ex: no materialistic things)

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6. Does your belief system observe special holidays? Where do they observe? (ex: Ramadan in Mosques or Christmas in Church)

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7. Does your belief system have a history that you are aware of? (ex: confucianism was developed after a cruel dynasty)

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8. Does your belief system have important Gods?

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9. Is your belief system philosophical, ideological, religious? Are they more than one? What are they?

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Does your belief system have a specific place of origin (where it came from)? Did your belief system spread to different parts of the world?

IDEATE

Directions: After looking at your define stage, pick 4 of what you think are the most essential elements to your belief system. These elements are in the form of your questions so should your exhibits be about the founder, set of rules and sacred texts, special holidays and place of worship, state of purpose, place of origin and spread, history, God or Gods, or which type of belief system it is. You can ONLY PICK 4!

PROTOTYPE

Directions PART 1 AND PART 2: You will receive multiple articles for your belief system. All articles contain various information on your belief system. You are only to pick out the 1 piece of information from your ESSENTIAL ELEMENT you choose from your IDEATE STAGE. THEN you will write 2 questions for your exhibit that your peers will have to answer. This question is only based on the information you collected from the article!

PART 1: Information about your essential element: What essential element are you writing this piece of information about (founder, history, set of rules, etc… ) _________________________________________________

Please write the piece of information from your article you will be using for your exhibit below. REMEMBER TO CITE THE SOURCE AND USE THE TITLE!

Article title:______________________________________________________

Article Source (author or where it came from):______________________________________________________

PART 2:Write two questions below that your peers can answer. REMEMBER these questions are based off of the information you wrote above!

1. Question 1 from information above:

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Question 2 from information above:

Name:__________________________ Date:_____________   Section:_______Notes#49             Unit: Belief Systems

Name of the Belief system packet you are evaluating: ____________________________________

Belief System - Design Challenge Rubric

Belief System Grading Guidelines Rubric- Design Challenge Rubric

Reflection of design challenge: Look back to the past two weeks of the design challenge and reflect on the work you have done. Answer the question in two paragraphs and really think about the exhibit you made and how your peers did when they were answering your question.

1. How focused do you think you were throughout the design challenge? Were you able to stay on task without having to be redirected?

2. Were you on time with all of you work or was some of your work late? Why?

3. Did your peers understand your exhibit enough to answer the questions you provided? Do you think the questions you gave were challenging enough and why?

4. Were you respectful to your peers work when answering their exhibit questions? How?

5. Were you respectful when you were grading their work? Why do you think you were or were not?

6. What else would you change about your exhibit given the feedback your peers gave you?