Invite students to share the opinions.

All of the articles are fake. Students 

will find out all the red flags later, but 
here's some background info for you:
1. Photo is clearly photoshopped, 
"the Onion" is a website 
publishing parody news
2. The photo used is not the 
original photo, it was taken in 
2016. One year before hurricane 
Harvey.
3. The major red flag here is that 
the article is written by "admin" 
= it's anonymous, we can't check 
or verify it.
4. This is just an old Facebook 
scam, the photo is edited, and 
despite many people falling for 
it, no-​one is giving away 5000$ :​(
Before watching the video, ask your 
students to look through the options and 
say if they used any. You might need to pre-​
teach "vested interest". it's not in the video, 
but will be used later.
Vested interest = a special concern for 
something especially for selfish ends. For 
example, chocolate factory may have a vested 
interest in publishing an article about how 
beneficial chocolate is for health = they'll sell 
more.

1. Check if they have a real URL. Sometimes 

it's missing a letter or is changed. Read 
other articles on the website and see of 
they meet the standards of good 
journalism.
2. They try to "short-​circuit your logic center 
or your ability to think", i.e. they 
manipulate us to act without giving it much 
thought.
3. Check if it has author's name and what 
other pieces of news they have published 
before
4. Just having "scientists" written isn't enough. 
We need to see the full context: what 
scientists? what did they say exactly?
5. It can show if the image is original and 
when it was first published.

1. B
2. C
3. A
Alternatively, you can dictate the titles 
to the students, and then ask them to 
look for proof, if you're afraid they'll 
click "reveal" too quickly, without 
giving it much thought.

You can share helpful resources in 

the next slide before doing this 
activity. This could be done at home, 
too.