Lesson: 1.12 Is This Food Video True?
Print: Pages 1 and 2, one per student. Page 3 (three fictional sources on the honey claim) one set per pair, only if you did not find real sources for the video you chose.
Page 1: The four questions
Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______
The claim in the video: _____________________________________________________
Directions: Answer the four source-check questions for the video. Write what you can see or find, not what you guess.
| Question | What it really asks | My answer for this video |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Who wrote it? | A real name and a job I can check? Or just a handle? | |
| 2. What do they sell? | A product, a program, a supplement, a book? Or my attention and views? | |
| 3. What is the evidence? | A study I could find? A label? A number? Or "trust me" and "studies show"? | |
| 4. When was it posted? | Is it recent? Could the advice be old? |
Two shortcuts:
- A registered dietitian (RD or RDN) has a license and can lose it for giving bad advice.
- A website ending in .gov or .edu is usually not selling anything.
Page 2: The three-source check
Directions: Read all three sources on the same claim. Fill in one row each. Then decide.
| Source A | Source B | Source C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What does it say about the claim? | |||
| Who wrote it? | |||
| What do they sell? | |||
| What evidence does it show? | |||
| When was it posted? | |||
| Credible or not credible? | |||
| Why? (name the question it passed or failed) |
My verdict on the claim (circle one): True / False / Partly true / Cannot tell
The source that decided it: Source ______ because ______________________________________
Sentence frame: "The claim is ___ because source ___ shows ___."
Grade 8 stretch: a fourth source you found. What is it? ____________________ Who wrote it? ____________________ What do they sell? ____________________ Evidence? ____________________ Credible? ______. Rewrite the claim as a sentence that is actually true, if there is one: _______________________________________________
Our class checklist for judging any food video (copy from the board; at least six questions):
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
Rate the video with the checklist. Questions passed: ______ out of ______. Views: ______________. Do views predict passes? ______
Page 3: Three sources on one claim (fictional examples for practice)
These three sources are made up for this lesson. They are written to look like the real thing so you can practice. The claim they are all about:
The claim: "Honey is a natural sugar, so it is healthy and you can eat as much of it as you want."
Source A: a video transcript
Posted 3 weeks ago by @sweetlifewithkai. 6.2 million views.
"Okay so everyone is scared of sugar but here is the thing nobody tells you. Honey is NATURAL. Bees make it. It has antioxidants, it has enzymes, it is basically medicine. I put it in my coffee, on my toast, in my oatmeal, I take a spoonful before bed. Sugar is poison but honey is from nature, so your body knows what to do with it. Link in bio for the raw honey I use, code KAI for 15% off."
Source B: a web page
Ask a Dietitian: Is honey healthier than sugar?
By Maria Santos, RDN, Clinical Nutrition Department, Northshore Medical Center. Reviewed May 2026.
"Honey is a sugar. One tablespoon has about 64 calories and 17 grams of sugar, a little more than a tablespoon of table sugar. It does contain tiny amounts of antioxidants, but not enough to change your health at the amounts people eat. On a Nutrition Facts label, honey counts as added sugars. The Dietary Guidelines recommend keeping added sugars under 10 percent of your daily calories, and honey counts toward that limit. Honey is a fine choice if you like the taste, in the same small amounts you would use sugar. Never give honey to a baby under one year old because of the risk of infant botulism."
Sources listed: U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central; Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020 to 2025; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infant botulism.
Source C: a product page
Golden Hive Raw Wildflower Honey, 16 oz. $14.99. Free shipping on orders over $40.
"Nature's perfect sweetener. Raw, unfiltered, and never heated. Packed with antioxidants and enzymes. A healthy way to sweeten everything from tea to toast. Kids love it."
4.8 stars (2,314 reviews). Top review: "I switched my whole family from sugar to Golden Hive and we feel amazing."