Responsible decision making relies on the ability to a recognize, analyze, and evaluate claims. The worksheets and activities in this 32-page packet teach learners how to distinguish among opinions, reasoned arguments, facts, and logical...

Students study ten fallacies that represent the most common mistakes in reasoning. In groups, students evaluate given arguments and identify the fallacy and/or bobby-trap in each one. Students study larger arguments and discover...

During a political campaign, you can hardly turn around without encountering an endorsement or attack on a candidate. High schoolers examine the ways that negative advertisement, positive advertisements, and everything in between can...

In this online interactive philosophy worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.

Middle schoolers disprove evolution. In this science lesson, students disprove evolution by attempting to prove that creation is the way it all began. They use the improbability that evolution could exist and expose its fallacies, frauds...

Enter the debate on vaccines. Small groups research topics related to vaccine safety in the last lesson in a unit of five. In the process of the research, team members learn how to determine the validity and credibility of a website. The...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

Historical and humorous examples pepper this through presentation, which addresses logical infelicities and humor in business, advertising, and even politics. Though designed for a business and advertising class, this lecture could also...

Students study debating procedures and elements of logic as they look at presidential and vice presidential debates. They

Ninth graders study different types of propaganda and select an issue that is significant to them.  In this exploratory lesson students design and create posters on the topic of their choice and write a narrative describing it. 

Using the text Language Awareness by Eschholz, Rosa and Clark, as well as previous lectures from the class, this slideshow presents students with a midterm addressing key terms and concepts. While teachers might have a hard time...

Students analyze and research the claims of Listerine advertisements and commercials. They observe commercials and ads, then participate in numerous activities to determine the credibility of the claims made by Listerine. Students...

Students research the legal definition of pornography from a law textbook, reference books available in class or online. Students view the Abercrombie and Fitch home page. A selection of resources related to this topic is linked....

Are you a friggatriskaidekaphobic? An excerpt from an article about the fear of Friday the 13th is used as the basis of a reading comprehension exercise. The five questions require readers to employ several strategies (drawing...

Investigate letters to the editor and their persuasive qualities. Break your class into reading groups and give each one a different article. As they read, they complete a graphic organizer to record their thoughts and opinions. There is...

Students form logical foundations for analysis of observations. They improve analytic reading abilities through practice. Students investigate the foundations of scientific thought processes and how to apply them.

It's a shame that there are no photographs in this presentation because the information is fascinating! Each identically fashioned slide contains bullet points of information about Antarctica that will enhance an earth science...

Learners examine several letters to the editor from both a local newspaper and national newspapers. After reviewing current letters, they write a letter to the editor of an 18th-century newspaper expressing their opinion about the...

Young scholars watch election commercials for a homework assignment. They analyze the commercials and create a commercial for a fictitious candidate using the techniques they observed.

In this online interactive geography worksheet, students examine a map of Michigan and identify the 14 noted cities on the map using a pull down menu within 3 minutes.

High schoolers examine the function of presidential debates. In this civics lesson, students view segments of presidential and vice presidential debates. High schoolers analyze the answers given in the debates and identify the platforms...

In this debate worksheet, learners read and learn about the fine points of debate and persuasion. The vocabulary presented and the ideas are quite advanced; premise, conclusion, syllogism, ad homineum, and other difficult terms.

Students explore the concept of yin and yang. In this Tai Chi lesson, students create a working definition of yin and yang as they read about its role in Eastern philosophy. Students also discuss the relationship between opposites.

Students make a chart of the media's manipulation techniques and examples of them while watching and listening to a video tape of past news events.