What Makes Me A Me?

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Begin with the question ‘What makes me, me?’ and ask pupils for their thoughts. Ask what the word 'identity' means. You could choose some older pupils to record answers to these questions to reflect upon after watching the video. Explain that the video is about a man called Dave who sets off on a voyage in a wooden ship called the Theseus and that the issue of identity becomes very important to him. The purpose of BBC’s content is to inform, educate and entertain. As such, students, teachers, schools, and other established educational bodies may utilise such content for educational purposes via an ERA Licence. And each time the ship gets damaged... More metal parts are added and so on and so on. Until, eventually, every part of the Theseus has been replaced. The ship is now entirely metal. Inside and out. When Dave gets home, his wife...'

You may choose to discuss the questions posed in the video now if they weren't discussed during the video. You can also display the image called 'How do we change?' taken from the video to aid the discussion around 'change'. He spends the evening looking at the stars. Making sure he's being extra careful. And the next day, on his way to return it to Sophie, he sees a group of little baby scorpions looking cute on the bank of the river. Uh oh. Looks like Karim might not have been extra careful this time.' c) you do not state or imply (in any way) that there is a relationship and or any endorsement from the BBC to you. The thing is, Sophie's not sure. She knows Karim is careless. But he promises to be careful with it. So eventually she decides to lend him the telescope. Karim heads off, carrying the telescope. Extra carefully.'that fell off the original Theseus and decided to rebuild it. It needed a lot of hard work - and an awful lot of nails. But it looks very good now he's finished. The minute she sees the ship, Dave's wife thinks it's Dave's ship - the Theseus. So what does this mean? They're both called the Theseus.And they both look the same...' Who's been really missing Dave a great deal, is surprised. She wants to know why he's got a new ship.' Some pupils struggle with identity and who they are so you will need to be sensitive when discussing some of the above. And we keep growing into teenagers. Then adults. And we continue changing our whole lives. Our hair grows and falls out and more grows without us even noticing. We get a whole new set of teeth. Everything changes. So if every part of us gets replaced too, Like Dave's ship, then that raises a big question.' b) there aren’t any charges for access and or charges associated with the content (clearly stating that the content is free to

This adaptation of Peter Worley’s ‘The If Machine’, encourages children to consider the meaning of identity and explores personal memories, experiences and the soul.

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Play the video. The duration is 4' 22". Questions are posed during the video at the following times:

Yes, thank you. Dave and his crew are setting off on a long voyage. It's a tough voyage, with many storms and mishaps. And it gets really quite hard to keep the ship sailing and stop bits of it falling into the water. Every time the ship is damaged, Dave takes the Theseus to George's ship yard. And George replaces the broken' Dave owns a wooden ship called the Theseus And that's Dave's wife - she doesn't like goodbyes. Dave and his crew...' What did the scorpion mean when she said, "It's in her nature"? That's all very well for frogs and scorpions. But what does this have to do with humans? Well let's take Karim as an example, Karim's always been a bit, well, careless with other people's things.' As the children enter play your chosen song to sow seeds in the children’s minds - eg ‘Beautiful’ (Christina Aguilera) or ‘Go the distance’ (Hercules) . Display the question image ‘What makes me, me?’Over our lives, we have changed and will continue to change as we grow older. Some of these changes are obvious one...growing taller...being able to talk...changing our favourite flavour of ice-cream... However, some of these changes are less obvious - what we believe in...what our hopes and dreams are...or what we value most in life. Think about who you will become as you grow and develop... Will you be the same you...or different..? What makes you, you? You could choose to pause the video at these times for a short discussion, or alternatively, watch the video through once and then stop at the questions the second time through, or pose the questions after the first viewing. Dave and his wife haven't stopped arguing about whether it's the same ship, when suddenly, over the horizon a familiar shape appears. It's the Theseus, only made of wood. How did this happen? It turns out George always wanted his own ship. So, rather cleverly, he kept all the wooden bits'

Without an ERA Licence, reasonable use of the content (for the purposes set out above) may still be possible, however; any such use must be in line with the BBC’s Terms of Use. On the banks of a river sits a scorpion. This scorpion has got lost and she's separated from her family by a huge river.'This animated film is an exploration of the concept of identity using the story of the Ship of Theseus, made famous by British philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, when using and or sharing BBC Education content, you must comply with the BBC’s Terms of Use and where relevant, YouTube’s terms and conditions, ensuring that: Move the discussion on from the Theseus to a more general consideration of identity and change. You could ask some of the following: Help me to accept and embrace the differences within myself as I grow older and change both physically and spiritually. Which ship is the Theseus? Now, this is all very well with ancient ships and what not but what happens if we think about something a little closer to home? Like, I don't know? You! You see, like Dave's ship, our bodies change and grow throughout our lives. We're born. 'We grow up into toddlers.'