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This unit focuses on differing attitudes toward the environment and the philosophies from which those attitudes developed. After finishing this unit, students will: (1) gain an understanding of the concept of "world view"; (2) trace the historical events that created the Western world view; (3) explain the relationship between world view and the environment; and (4) analyze the Asian philosophies of Taoism and Buddhism as they relate to the environment. The various philosophies have positive perspectives to offer and the students should have the opportunity to discover those points for themselves. A conclusion to the unit could be done effectively by leading students to examine the best points from each with a pro/con chart on the blackboard or overhead using student reactions to create the atmosphere for a lively and positive discussion. An additional evaluation could be assigning a reaction paper with students writing about an attitude or behavior of theirs that reflects the influence of a world view and trying to imagine how this attitude or behavior would be altered if they lived elsewhere in the world. (EH)

This curriculum guide is for a semester length elective course on the world's major religions designed to be used at the 10th grade level in the Newtown Public Schools, Newton, Connecticut. It reviews each religion's origins, historical developments, sacred literature, beliefs, values, and practices while emphasizing the impact of religion on history, culture, contemporary issues and affairs, and the arts. The course units concern primitive religions, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism. Outlined for each unit are objectives, content, text materials, audiovisual materials, and suggested activities. The document also contains a National Council for the Social Studies paper entitled "Including the Study about Religions in the Social Studies Curriculum: A Position Statement and Guidelines" ("Social Education," May 1985) and the following front matter: (1) a description of the Newton Public Schools Social Studies philosophy and goals; (2) Bloom's Taxonomy chart; (3) an outline of the components of the writing process; (4) a speaking, listening, and viewing skills position statement; (5) a list of speaking skills objectives; (6) a list of listening /viewing objectives; and (7) the K-12 Social Studies Scope and Sequence. (DJC)