Subscribe

8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 12

Weigh the Evidence

Accurate, logical and fair sources

What your child practices

Children judge evidence and sources for accuracy, logic and fairness, spot fallacies and weak statistics, check content made by technology and combine sources with proper citations.

California Content Standards learning standard: W.8.8; RI.8.8 · judging sources and whether evidence is relevant, sufficient and logical

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is the difference between a fact and a claim?

    • there is no difference
    • a claim is always true
    • a fact can be verified; a claim still needs evidence
    • a fact is an opinion

  2. Question 2

    A chatbot gives a quotation from a historical figure. What should you do?

    • use it as is
    • find the quotation in a reliable source before using it
    • change a few words
    • say you wrote it

  3. Question 3

    Which detail would make you question a statistic?

    • the sample was only five people
    • it gives the year
    • it explains the method
    • it lists its source

  4. Question 4

    What is the best way to check a surprising claim you saw in a video?

    • search for the claim in several reliable news or expert sources
    • read the comments
    • watch it again
    • check how many views it has

  5. Question 5

    Why might a search engine show different results to different people?

    • the internet is different for everyone
    • results can be shaped by location and past searches
    • search engines are random
    • results never change

  6. Question 6

    Which helps you avoid plagiarism when taking notes?

    • skip writing sources
    • copy full paragraphs
    • write notes in your own words and record the source
    • use only one source

More 8th grade