Lesson 1.12, one day. Twelve slides. Build the deck from this outline. Student-facing text reads at grade 6 to 7. Do not put the video creator's name or face on any slide.
Do now
- A food video has ten million views. Does that make it more likely to be true?
- Yes or no, and one reason.
- Then: write one food "fact" you learned from a video or a post this year.
- Two minutes.
Teacher notes
Hands up for yes, for no. Write four of the "facts" on the board without judging them.
Watch
- The video plays here. 60 to 90 seconds. Captions on.
Teacher notes
Say nothing when it ends. Wait five seconds. "Is it true? You have no idea. Neither do I, yet. Let's find out how you would know."
Question 1, who wrote it?
- A real name and a job you can check?
- Or a handle and a nice smile?
- A registered dietitian (RD or RDN) has a license. They can lose it for bad advice.
- A doctor, a nurse, a food scientist: also checkable. "Wellness coach" is not a license.
Teacher notes
Image: a person icon with a question mark.
Question 2, what do they sell?
- A supplement? A program? A book? A discount code?
- If nothing, what do they get? Views. Followers. Attention. That is worth money too.
- Sponsored content is supposed to say "ad" or "paid partnership." It does not always.
- A .gov or .edu page is usually not selling anything.
Teacher notes
Image: a price tag icon.
Question 3, what is the evidence?
- A study you could find, with a name?
- A label? A number? A source you could click?
- Or "studies show," "doctors hate this," "trust me"?
- "Everyone knows" is not evidence. Neither is a before and after photo.
Teacher notes
Image: a magnifying glass icon.
Question 4, when was it posted?
- Food advice changes. Eggs were "bad" for years. Then they were not.
- An old post can be wrong now.
- A page with no date is a warning sign.
Teacher notes
Image: a calendar icon.
Watch again, and answer
- Same video, second time.
- With your partner, answer the four questions on the handout.
- Write what you can see, not what you guess.
Teacher notes
Play it again. Then take answers as a class, one question at a time. Question 2 usually cracks it open.
The three-source check
- Three printed sources on the same claim.
- Source A: the person making the claim. Source B: a page from someone with a license and no product. Source C: a company that sells something related.
- Fill the table. Mark each one credible or not, and name the question it passed or failed.
- Then your verdict: true, false, partly true, or cannot tell. And the source that decided it.
- Thirteen minutes.
Teacher notes
Push: "You marked it credible. Which of the four questions did it pass?" A pair that marks all three credible has not used the questions.
Build the class checklist
- What did you look for that worked? Give me a question.
- At least six. I will write them up. We sharpen each one until a sixth grader could use it.
- "Is there a study?" becomes "Does it name a study I could find?"
Teacher notes
Chart paper. This checklist stays on the wall through the $40 project.
Test it
- Run today's video against our checklist. One question at a time.
- Class vote on each: pass or fail.
- Count the passes.
- Ten million views. How many passes?
Teacher notes
Write the score on the board next to the view count.
The do now "facts"
- Pick one of the four "facts" on the board.
- Which checklist question would it fail first?
- Essential question: if a video has ten million views, is it more likely to be true?
Teacher notes
Two minutes. Pairs answer; then the class answers the essential question with the count as evidence.
Exit card
- 3 of the four source questions.
- 2 signs a food source is credible.
- 1 food "fact" you will check before you repeat it.
- Three volunteers read one line.
Teacher notes
The Label Reading Quiz opens the next period, before the Lab 2 prep. The checklist goes back on the screen for two minutes before it.