Introduction
With the growth of social media and everyone being an "expert" in everything, making sure a resource is legitimate and genuine can be tricky. Whether we realize it or not, life is all about communication and trust. People aren't just getting their information from news channels on TV or a newspaper anymore. TikTok, SnapChat, and Instagram have become go-to platforms to get current information. Not everything put out there is true, and it is important to tell the difference between fun, entertaining "news" and real accounts.
Task
There are legends aplenty about various creatures and places. It is up to you to prove or disprove the claim that this place or thing is out there! Choose your sources wisely, synthesize (or condense and summarize) your findings, and create a presentation to share your information.
Questions to answer:
- How can the reliability of a source impact the outcome of my research?
- How can understanding bias help me when performing research?
- How can I use power point tools to communicate my findings in a clear and concise way?
Process
You will work on your own to investigate the supposed existence of this place or thing.
You are responsible for answering the questions above as well as these:
Is this thing/place real?
Why are some people so sure it is real when others are not?
What does anyone gain from its existence or lack thereof?
Do some research online and see what you can find out about your choice. Remember to verify the credibility of each source and what role it has to play in your final product. Is this a new "discovery", or has "evidence" of it existed for centuries?
Use at least three different sources and discuss why you found them either valid or invalid.
- Is the source free from bias?
- Does the writer have something to gain from his opinion?
- Does the information contain facts for support?
- Is the same information found in more than one source?
- Can you cross reference this knowledge in more than one of your sources
- Is contact information provided?
- email address
- street address
- Is there a copyright symbol on the page? ©
- What is the purpose of the page?
- Entertain
- Inform
- Persuade
- What is the date of the most recent publication?
There is a fork in the road ahead. Go left and you are trying to prove that this place/thing is real. Go right and you create a presentation proving it is not real. The sources you choose should help to prove your point, but you may also include sources that are poor (bad or not credible) in order to prove the other side of argument is weak. Be clear which is which and WHY. Your decision is your thesis statement and should be the first portion/slide of your presentation.
To sum up:
Step 1: Decide if you believe in this thing/place or not
Step 2: Find three credible sources that prove your thesis correct
Step 3: Create a power point explaining why each of those sources works
Step 4: Turn your power point in on Canvas
Evaluation
Follow the rubric found on Canvas, but make sure you don't merely check off all the boxes. Go above and beyond with this interactive project.
Conclusion
You are now ready to explain what makes a resource authentic and credible or not, as well as whether or not a certain Sea-Monster exists in the Potomac River!