Health Smart Virginia
Cyber Tattoo
Sophomores use a website evaluation tool to determine if their selected websites are valid and reliable. They read about and list three behaviors about taking and sending photos of minors that qualify as Class 1 misdemeanors in their...
Pulitzer Center
The Paradise Papers: A Lesson in Investigative Journalism
The Paradise Papers, a year-long research project from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) exposed how political leaders, business people, and wealthy individuals used offshore entities to avoid taxes and hide...
Curated OER
Thinking About Hate
This lesson starts out with a guided discussion about the statement "Birds fly in the sky; airplanes fly in the sky; therefore, airplanes are birds" and goes on to cover logical fallacies and reliable sources, relating these to the topic...
Curated OER
D.E.W. (Drop Everything and Write!)
Students gather, determine validity and reliability of, analyze and organize information. They employ the most effective format for purpose and audience. Students write fully developed paragraphs that have details and information...
Curated OER
You're the Scientist
Students explore ways to assess the accuracy and reliability of data reported by Journey North observers.
Curated OER
Food Science, Scientific Method: Reliability and Validity in Empirical Research
Secondary learners explore food science by conducting an experiment using the scientific method and creating a science fair project based on their findings. They learn about food technology and modern research development. They...
Curated OER
Assessing Research Materials
Teaching learners how to evaluate a research source is an important part of the research process. The fresh idea here is that groups first develop a list of reasons why resources should be evaluated, transform these reasons into...
Curated OER
How to Locate and Evaluate Information, Part I - Online Catalog
Using the online catalog, researchers locate and record on a citation template specific sources for their research paper. A library specialist models searching strategies while the teacher introduces the research paper process. Daily...
TPS Journal
Sourcing a Document: The First Thanksgiving
How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event.
Curated OER
Digital Curation: Life and Times of Mark Twain
By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future students on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed) topics....
Curated OER
Savvy Surfers: Website Evaluation and Media Literacy
Sixth graders strengthen their understanding of what a high quality website is composed of. Learners evaluate three websites for accuracy, credibility, and reliability by completing a chart.
All About Explorers
How Could They Be so Wrong?
If it's on the Internet, it must be true ... right? Introduce young Internet explorers to the importance of fact-checking through a fun web-based activity. Pairs work together to read and analyze biographies about world explorers, then...
PBS
How to Teach Your Students about Fake News
What media literacy skills do people need to evaluate a news source? Scholars listen to and discuss an NPR story about how fake headlines often dupe young people and adults alike. Next, they study news stories, using a fact-checking...
Curated OER
The Top Ten Reasons for Going Into Space
Students read and evaluate ten reasons for exploring space and prove or disprove the validity of their online information.
Curated OER
Death and Taxes
Students explore the "death tax" and analyze statistical information about how the government taxes dead people. They research sources to determine the validity of a anti-tax group campaign and John McCain's claims about taxes. ...
Curated OER
Business Forecasting
Pupils examine the methods of business forecasting and their purpose. They calculate moving averages and predict future sales. They evaluate the reliability and validity of the techniques.
Curated OER
Alka-Seltzer Cannons
Fourth graders examine how to conduct a reliable scientific experiment so that the results are valid. They compare and contrast the reaction of Alka-Seltzer tables, one whole and one crushed, and time how long each takes to pop the top...
Curated OER
Get Physical
Fourth graders research a physical exercise using primary source information. They analyze the information and write a report that validates, rejects, or qualifies the information.
Curated OER
Revisiting Pocahontas
Students discuss the characteristics that make a historical resource reliable. As a class, they brainstorm a list of examples of possible historical resources and why they are important. In groups, they discover the consequences of...
Curated OER
Birds and Birdfeed
Fourth graders examine the basic survival needs of birds before examining a suet ball as an example of what birds eat. They conduct an experiment with pine cones, bird seed, vaseline, and peanut butter. By observing the birds, they...
Curated OER
Top Ten Facts
Students, in pairs, complete research about an assigned person. One student does research in the library and the other on the Internet. They come back together, compare their research, and compile a list of 10 main facts about their person.
Curated OER
The Visible Spectroscopy Expert Witness Problem
In a simulated crime science investigation, chemistry or physics sleuths use spectroscopy to analyze solutions. The instructional activity gives learners practice making salicylate solutions, using spectrophotometers, calculating...
Cornell University
Shedding a "Little" Light on Cancer Surgery
Many types of cancer treatments now depend on nanotechnology—a big "little" discovery. Scholars begin by removing "malignant" tissue from simulated brains, one using fluorescent markers thanks to nanotechnology and one without. This...
Curated OER
Credible Sources on the Internet: What to Trust, What to Dismiss and When to Cite a Source
Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a lesson about evaluating digital sources. The lesson starts with a quickwrite and includes vocabulary exercises and several...