CLASSROOM QUESTIONS

Questions for ‘Fake news: How not to fall for it’

Journalism skills can help students identify reliable sources of news.

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By Science News Explores

September 21, 2017 at 5:50 am

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?
Associated Story

SCIENCE & SOCIETY

Fake news: How not to fall for it
By Sheila Mulrooney EldredSeptember 21, 2017

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