Cancer Fact or Fiction
How can we tell what is cancer fact versus fiction? Learn how to critically evaluate online sources for credible information on cancer research topics while understanding the importance of research translation across the internet.
In this activity, students will develop their scientific literacy skills to determine cancer facts versus fiction, analyzing a wide range of new sources including scientific journals, news outlets, blogs, and social media channels.
What You Need
The attached PowerPoint file is needed for the presentation of this activity. Students can evaluate news sources pertaining to certain cancer research topics using the attached PDF file. For a longer version of the activity, students can access the internet using phones, laptops, etc. to evaluate the sources' webpages in more detail.
Guide:
PowerPoint:
List of research topics:
Safety Notes
Ensure you are familiar with Let’s Talk Science’s precautions with respect to safe virtual outreach to youth.
What To Do
1. Begin the workshop with a short introduction and outline of the activity’s objectives found on PowerPoint.
2. Break the students up into small groups. Groups of 4 to 6 work, depending on the class size.
3. Each group is given a topic and several articles from various news sources to consider about the validity of the content.
4. Students will rank their given articles from most to least credible.
5. After 20-30 minutes, each group will give a 5-minute presentation on their topic and the strategy used when ranking news sources.
6. Close up the activity, and provide time for a Q&A.
Discovery
We are all exposed to health misinformation, especially on social media. A reliable source is credible, trustworthy and objective and includes primary research articles, government websites, science magazines, etc. This activity helps students learn how to critically evaluate online sources and develop the necessary scientific literacy skills to use social media for good and verify any information they read before they share it.
Why Does It Matter?
We are all exposed to health misinformation, especially on social media. A reliable source is credible, trustworthy and objective and includes primary research articles, government websites, science magazines, etc. This activity helps students learn how to critically evaluate online sources and develop the necessary scientific literacy skills to use social media for good and verify any information they read before they share it.