☰ Year plan · Communication Technology

Finding, judging and recording

Week 25 · Theme 4, Lesson 4 Digital Applications · 3 lessons
2

Is this source good? Five questions

ICT P4 Term 2, Theme 4: pp. 58–61
GoalUse five questions to judge a source.
New words
evidence · something that shows a fact is truerecent · new, not made a long time agoopinion · what a person thinks, which cannot be provedone-sided · showing only one point of view
Explanation

Before you trust information, check its source. Ask five questions. One: who made it, a known person or a respected organisation? Two: does it give evidence and name other sources you can look at? Three: how recent is the information? Four: does it give facts or opinions? A fact can be checked; an opinion is what someone thinks. Five: is it fair or one-sided, showing only one point of view? You can ask a teacher or a family member to help. A source that passes all five questions is a good one. If it passes only a few, be careful.

QuestionGood signWarning sign
Who made it?a named person or a respected organisationno name
Is there evidence?names other sourcesnames none
How recent?up-to-date informationvery old
Facts or opinions?mostly factsmostly opinions
Is it fair?shows more than one viewone-sided
Worked examples
QuestionAnswer
Who made it?a farming expert, yes
Evidence?yes
Recent?yes
Facts?yes
Fair?yes
A page about the date palm is written by a farming expert, names its sources, is recent, is mostly facts, and shows more than one view. It passes all five questions, so it is a good source.
best in the world!✗
An advert says: “Buy this juice! It is the best in the world!” It has no author and no evidence. It is an opinion and one-sided, so we are careful.
FactOpinion
Camels live in deserts.Camels are the best animals.
“Camels live in deserts” is a fact that can be checked. “Camels are the best animals” is an opinion.
Class activity

Source detectives. Write short descriptions of three imaginary pages on three cards. In pairs, ask the five questions and give each card a rating: Good source, Check more, or Be careful.

Practice
1
Write two of the five questions.
2
Fact or opinion: “The school garden has 12 palm trees”?
3
Page A is by an expert and names its sources; page B has no author and no sources. Which is more reliable?
AB
4
Why does it matter how recent information is?