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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 12

Research & Credibility

Peer review, AI output and synthesis

What your child practices

Students practice effective research questions, peer review, conflicting sources, sampling, lateral reading, checking AI output for invented sources, and citing and synthesizing evidence honestly.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Writing 1 · research questions, conflicting sources, credibility and citing

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Use peer-reviewed sources when you can, and ask who funded a study.
  2. Read laterally: check what other reliable sources say. AI tools can invent sources and facts.
  3. Correlation is not causation: two things happening together doesn’t prove one causes the other.

Example: Ice cream sales and sunburns both rise in summer. Does ice cream cause sunburns? They happen at the same time. Both are caused by something else: hot, sunny weather. Answer: No: correlation does not prove causation.

Research & Credibility in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 10 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Form & Composing and before Proofreading.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

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 a limitation of content generated by AI tools?

    • it can include errors, invented sources and hidden bias
    • it is always peer-reviewed
    • it cites every source correctly
    • it cannot write sentences

  2. Question 2

    What is peer review?

    • a book report
    • experts checking research before it is published
    • friends liking a post
    • a type of citation

  3. Question 3

    A survey of 50 people from one club is used to describe a whole state. What is the problem?

    • surveys never work
    • 50 is too many
    • the sample is not representative
    • the survey is too long

  4. Question 4

    Why is it important to note the date you accessed a website?

    • it is required for books
    • it shows your opinion
    • it makes citations longer
    • web content can change after you read it

  5. Question 5

    What makes a research question effective?

    • it is focused, arguable or open-ended, and answerable with evidence
    • it is as broad as possible
    • it has a yes or no answer
    • it is about your opinion only

  6. Question 6

    Why might two credible historians interpret the same event differently?

    • history has no evidence
    • they read different alphabets
    • one must be lying
    • they emphasize different evidence and perspectives

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