To accompany feature “Fake news: How not to fall for it”

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY 

Before Reading: 

1.  Have you heard people talking about “fake news”? What does the term mean to you?          

2.  What do you think are two things that students can do to judge whether something they read online is trustworthy?         

During Reading:

1.  What does the term news literacy mean?

2.  Why are students across the world learning about news literacy in very different ways?

3.  What is one reason it can be hard to recognize when someone is purposely trying to trick us with fake news?

4.  What does the term confirmation bias mean?   

5.  What is one danger the story points to that can come from only seeing news that your friends share on social media?

6.  What are at least two reasons why people create fake news stories?  

7.  What are three questions you can ask yourself to “be a detective” or “be a journalist” when you’re trying to figure out if a news story is trustworthy?  

8.  What are two things you can do to analyze photos that are part of news stories? 

9.  How does the angle at which a photo is taken affect the message it conveys?  

10.  What are two fact-checking websites you can use to check whether a story is real or fake?     

After Reading: 

1.  Have you ever fallen for “fake news”? If so, what was the fake story, and why did it draw you in?

2.  Find two news stories that friends have pointed you to on social media. Now evaluate whether they pass the “real news” test. Identify at least five ways you worked to confirm whether the information in the stories was solid and trustworthy.

3.  What are at least three effects that you think the spread of untrustworthy information through social media could have on society?