Discussion Question Category: Epistemology

How many Stars in the Sky

Question Area One: Where does our knowledge come from? Question Area Two: Are there questions we cannot answer? Question Area Three: Is it okay to not know something? Activity: Can we count all the grains of sand? As we saw in the book, it may seem like an impossible task to count all of the How many Stars in the Sky

You Are Stardust

What is nature? Are we a part of nature or are we outside of it? What is our relationship to the rest of the natural world? Are we connected or disconnected? If we are connected, or a part of the natural world, what implications does this have on the way we treat it? Do we You Are Stardust

On The Day You Were Born

Option 1: Read the story only and then have a discussion. If questions come up about science background, you can refer to the index or other info sources. This option is the most open-ended and may lead to a discussion that is more generally philosophical and less scientific in nature. Option 2: Read the story. On The Day You Were Born

My Father’s Dragon

If you were Elmer, would you have gone to Wild Island? How could the animals have a revolution? What do you think would cause a revolution? Do you think it is a good idea to befriend stray animals? What do you think Elmer’s parents thought when he did not come home? Imagine that you could My Father’s Dragon

Why?

Why ask why? What is the purpose of a question? Why do we ask questions? What makes a question a good one? Is curiosity a good thing? Why do you think Lily’s father sometimes became annoyed with Lily when she asked “Why?” Could a question really save the world? Could it destroy it? Can asking Why?

Where the Wild Things Are

Max experiences the fantastical forest and monsters as if they are real. Does that mean that the forest and monsters are real? How do you know whether something is real or imagined? How do you know whether or not you are dreaming right now? Is it possible for time to go by without anything changing? Where the Wild Things Are

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

WHAT IS MAGIC? Is magic real? What kinds of things are magic? IMAGINATION AND EXISTENCE Can anything you imagine really exist? If you had a magic pebble like the one Sylvester found what would you do with it? What would you wish for? What other ways could you get your wish? Do you think the Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Press Here

Did what we did affect the book? How do we know what’s going to happen? How do we know when one event causes another event? Was the book magic? Contributed by Gobe Hirata