Not everything you read is true! Here’s how to be a source detective:
Ask These Important Questions:
- Who wrote this? Is it someone who really knows about this topic? A scientist writing about space is better than your neighbor writing about space
- How do they know? Did they see it happen? Did they do experiments? “I watched 100 birds for a year” is better than “Birds are pretty”
- Is this new enough? A book about space from 1990 won’t know about things we discovered last year
- Do other smart people say the same thing? If three different science websites agree, that’s good!
- Are they trying to sell me something? A candy company might not tell the truth about how healthy candy is.
- Did anyone sponsor the article? If it was sponsored a by a business where a positive review is in their best interest, the information may not 100 accurate.
- Have they cited their sources? This adds to an authors credibility and then you can double check the footnotes to make sure the information is up to date.
Be Extra Careful With:
- Social media – Anyone can post anything, even if it’s made up
- Random websites – Look for ones ending in .edu (schools), .gov (government), or .org (organizations)
- Things that sound too amazing – “Scientists find unicorns!” would need really, really good proof