Evolution and Persuasion

So ya’ll started talking about evolution yesterday and what an amazing concept it is…couldn’t agree more so lets roll with it hey. First up, here is the most amazing video of evolution ever;

So…we all came from monkeys, which came from other stuff. Pretty simple hey. Here’s a nice image to give you a view of the cycle…

So, if this is the case (evolution is real), and there’s lots of studies to show it, why do other world views persist? Take a look at the following theories;

Discussion Time: What are these two above images? What do we know about the two theories associated with them? How could the text that underpins them be used to persuade others? What are the key messages?

Task for Growing Understanding: Ok, so either in small groups or individually, you need to produce a form of text to persuade others to conform to your beliefs. So, you need to do the following;

• Pick something you believe in – if you are struggling with this here is a list of common topics: vaccinate / anti-vax, faith / atheism, pacifist / warmonger, burgers are healthy / burgers are not, baldness is awesome / baldness is even more awesome
• Unpack why you support your belief – what has convinced you, shaped you, helped you grow into this belief? How can you utilize this in convincing others?
• Develop a text (poster / meme / speech / short story / poem etc.) that you believe will persuade others to see your point of view.
• BUT – first: lets just explore these as a group:

Ok – so lets get going with our work. Here is the achievement standard you will be addressing FYI YOUNG PPL!

Achievement Standard: students evaluate how text structures can be used in innovative ways by different authors. They explain how the choice of language features, images and vocabulary contributes to the development of individual style. Students create a wide range of texts to articulate complex ideas. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, building on others’ ideas, solving problems, justifying opinions and developing and expanding arguments.