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Cosmos Myths
What is the oldest question humans have ever asked, and how did they answer it?
About this Unit
This unit asks learners to explore one of humanity's oldest and most universal questions: How did the world begin? Through creation myths drawn from West African, Greek, and Hebrew traditions, learners build skills in reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and informational writing all while also developing a genuine appreciation for diverse cultural worldviews.
The unit culminates in a creative writing project where learners write their own original creation myth, applying everything they have learned about narrative structure, literary language, and paragraph craft.
Primary Texts
Suggested Companion Books
Science Connections: S2S Prehistory Lessons 1-5
This unit pairs naturally with science instruction on the Big Bang, formation of the solar system, and the first stars. Look for Science Connection callouts on individual lesson pages.
This unit asks learners to explore one of humanity's oldest and most universal questions: How did the world begin? Through creation myths drawn from West African, Greek, and Hebrew traditions, learners build skills in reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and informational writing all while also developing a genuine appreciation for diverse cultural worldviews.
The unit culminates in a creative writing project where learners write their own original creation myth, applying everything they have learned about narrative structure, literary language, and paragraph craft.
Primary Texts
- In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World — Virginia Hamilton
- Queer Mythology — Guido A. Sanchez
Suggested Companion Books
- How the Stars Came to Be — Poonam Mistry
- The Star People: A Lakota Story — S.D. Nelson
- The Star-Bearer: A Creation Myth from Ancient Egypt — Dianne Hofmeyr
Science Connections: S2S Prehistory Lessons 1-5
This unit pairs naturally with science instruction on the Big Bang, formation of the solar system, and the first stars. Look for Science Connection callouts on individual lesson pages.
Content Knowledge and Background
- A creation myth is a story that explains how the world came to be. Every known culture in human history has at least one.
- Hamilton's In the Beginning draws from dozens of world cultures and presents the stories as literature, not religious doctrine.
- The Fon people of Benin, West Africa, worship Mawu-Lisa, a dual deity who is simultaneously male and female, embodying the balance between opposites: light/dark, sun/moon, strength/tenderness.
- Many creation stories begin with void, water, darkness, or chaos. The act of creation is often the act of bringing order to disorder.
- Queer Mythology by Guido A. Sanchez retells and reimagines traditional myths through a queer lens, giving voice to characters and stories that have often been overlooked or erased.
Reading Area Focus
- To understand a creation story, readers identify key details about what existed before creation and what was made first.
- Readers notice how different cultures answer the same question “How did the world begin?” in different ways and ask what those differences reveal.
- When a story uses symbols and images (like light, water, or eggs), readers ask: what might this image mean beyond the literal story?
Writing Focus Areas (Informational/Explanatory)
- Identify a central idea in a myth and support it with at least two details from the text.
- Summarize a story capturing who, what, and why in your own words, not copied from the text.
- Use transitional language (both, while, however, on the other hand) to connect ideas when comparing two texts.
- Write a paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting details, and a closing sentence.
Discussion and Speaking
- When asked a question about a story, respond with a specific detail from the text, not just a feeling or a guess.
- After reading, practice stating your interpretation in one complete sentence before writing it down.
- Ask a question about the story that you genuinely do not know the answer to, write it down before you discuss.