1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently divides her time between New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, pursing a PhD in Sociology. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access and academic enrichment programming in Chester, Pennsylvania and New York City in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to her studies and work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Informational Text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.2Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

2. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?
© AirPano
© Matthew Kuhns/Tandem Stills + Motion
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?
Construction of this impressive Hindu temple and garden complex was completed in 2005 and quickly became a major attraction. The Akshardham temple was built for the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, (aka BAPS), a Hindu sect headed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj.
Roughly 7,000 craftspeople were hired to construct the Akshardham, but perhaps more impressive were the 3,000 BAPS followers who volunteered to help create this monument to spirituality. Akshardham includes theme park-like attractions, including a boat ride, musical fountains, and a sunken garden. These are meant to function as educational tools as well as entertainments, explaining the history and philosophy of the BAPS faith.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?1
Web Search
How does it compare to other major religions like Islam and Christianity? What is the history of Hinduism and its number of followers? 2
What are main beliefs of Hinduism? 3
What is a religious “sect”? What might a sect look like in the context of beliefs in Hinduism? 4
Are religious sects common? Find examples in another major religion. 5
Thinking
Why might sects form in any religion? What function do sects serve in society in general and within religions specifically?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?1
Web Search
How does it compare to other major religions like Islam and Christianity? What is the history of Hinduism and its number of followers? 2
What are main beliefs of Hinduism? 3
What is a religious “sect”? What might a sect look like in the context of beliefs in Hinduism? 4
Are religious sects common? Find examples in another major religion. 5
Thinking
Why might sects form in any religion? What function do sects serve in society in general and within religions specifically?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?1
Web Search
How does it compare to other major religions like Islam and Christianity? What is the history of Hinduism and its number of followers?
(Possible Search Queries: ”what is Hinduism”)
From Religious Tolerance (
Hinduism differs from Christianity and other monotheistic religions in that it does not have:
a single founder,
a specific theological system,
a single concept of deity,
a single holy text,
a single system of morality,
a central religious authority,
the concept of a prophet.
Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion. It consists of "thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE." 1 Because of the wide variety of Hindu traditions, freedom of belief and practice are notable features of Hinduism.

8. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?2
Web Search
What are main beliefs of Hinduism?
(Possible Search Queries: ”beliefs in hinduism” “what is hinduism”)
From About Religions (
What are the basic tenets of Hinduism?
There is no “one Hinduism”, and so it lacks any unified system of beliefs and ideas. Hinduism is a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions, in which the prominent themes include:
Dharma (ethics and duties)
Samsara (rebirth)
Karma (right action)
Moksha (liberation from the cycle of Samsara)
It also believes in truth, honesty, non-violence, celibacy, cleanliness, contentment, prayers, austerity, perseverance, penance, and pious company.

9. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?3
Web Search
What is a religious “sect”? What might a sect look like in the context of beliefs in Hinduism?
(Possible Search Queries: ”what is a religious sect”)
From a Bing Search
Sect
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger religious group. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and principles.

10. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?4
Web Search
Are religious sects common? Find examples in another major religion.
(Possible Search Queries: ”sects christianity”)
**using Christianity as an example**
From Religion Facts (
(also called “denominations”)
Beliefs, Differences, and Practices
Over the centuries, Christianity has divided into numerous denominations. Each denomination has its own distinctive beliefs or practices, but they are commonly considered branches of the same religion because they agree on such fundamentals as the Bible, the Trinity, and the person of Jesus Christ. The way in which members regard other denominations varies from mutual respect and acceptance to suspicion and denial that the other group is really "Christian."
The three main branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestant (some say Anglican is a fourth). Most of the denominations that exist today developed in the 500 years since the Protestant Reformation and fall under the "Protestant" branch. This section provides information on some of the major denominations that exist today, along with a brief history of how there came to be so many.

11. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?5
Thinking
Why might sects form in any religion? What function do sects serve in society in general and within religions specifically?
Students should consider the definition of “sect” and how sects function in religions they might be familiar with.

12. What is the relationship between religions and religious sects?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.