Lesson plan

1. View the program

View the episode The Niranderthal Beast.

2. Analyse the program 

Draw this table on the board and with students make a list of the main characters and identify their role and point of view in the story: which characters are central to the story? Which characters are peripheral? 

Character	What did they do in the story?	What point of view did they represent?
Bronson  Pete  Linda  Tony  Fay  The Barber (Con)  Gribble and Matron Gribble  Constable Richmond  Group of 'hoons' that hunt the beast Reporters  Nell  Fiona  Various townsfolk

3. Analyse media headlines

Class discussion - headlines

Early in the episode, we see the first newspaper article about Bronson being read by Tony. The headline is 'A Beast Among Us?' 

Ask students to consider the impact of these sorts of headlines. How does the media influence public opinion? 

Homework

Ask students to gather examples of startling headlines from newspapers. Display them around the room. Students could suggest the stories that may accompany them and compare their suggestions with the real stories.. 

View video

Watch the segment where Gribble is being interviewed by a reporter. 

Scene: Outside the 'Hotel de Love'. 
Begins with Gribble: 'Despite my love of all things in the natural world.' 
Ends with Gribble: 'You're from the ABC aren't you?' 

Individual writing

Using "A Beast Among Us" as a headline, ask students to imagine they are the reporters in the scene and write a report about the situation for tomorrow's newspaper. Discuss the different viewpoints, focuses, biases presented by different writers reporting the same incident. 

4. Explore mob mentality

Class discussion - mob mentality

During the scene of the public meeting, Nell makes the following statement: 'We can't let the mob mentality destroy our best chance of discovering a new species. We must convince people not to rush headlong into these situations. We have to be calm, rational, scientific.' 

Students consider these questions: 

• Ask students to consider what is meant by the term 'mob mentality'? 
• Why do people behave in the way depicted in this episode? 
• What motivates people to act rashly and quickly? 
• What can be done in situations where large groups of people are fearful or panicked? 
• What helps us cope? 
• Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you deal with it? 
• How could the towns-people have handled this situation differently? 

Role play

View this scene again and follow up with a role-play of your own public meeting about the issue. Ask students to work towards a list of recommendations for action. 

5. Explore lying and deception

Fishbowl discussion - is it ever OK to lie?

One of the key themes of this episode is lies and deception. Bronson has to hide the truth about his beard and Mothers' Day gifts are kept secret from Fay, coming up with a range of excuses to hide the truth. 

Ask students what they think they would have done in the same situation. This discussion may lead to more general exploration of the issues of honesty and dishonesty. 

• Organise a circle of chairs or cushions for up to ten students in the class. These students are 'in the fishbowl'. Other students stand around the circle listening to and observing the discussion going on in the inner circle. 
• Pose this question to the inner circle: is it ever OK to lie? The inner circle discusses this question while the outer circle notes any interesting arguments, statements, contradictions and examples put forward. 
• After a time limit set by you, students in the outer circle may nominate to join the inner circle. With your permission, they tap someone on the shoulder and join in. The person in the inner circle swaps places with them and becomes an observer. 
• Allow the discussion to proceed for a while, including several interchanges between outer and inner circle members. 

Individual reflection

Everyone then returns to their tables and writes about what they have heard and/or said using these focus questions: 

• What were some of the points raised (in the inner circle discussion) with which you agreed? Why? 
• What points did you disagree with? Why? 
• What did the discussion make you think about? 
• How were the most effective points made? 

Class summation

Revisit the focus question: 'is it ever OK to lie?' and consider whether some kind of general consensus has been reached as a class. 

This activity can be further developed through viewing all or part of Truth Hits Everybody, ep 5, vol 7. This episode looks at the complexities of truth telling and explores the idea that sometimes truth can be destructive or hurtful. 

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