Student Activity Handout
"A friend of mine told me that an earwig crawled into his cousin's ear while he was sleeping and slowly chewed its way through his brain to the other ear causing him to go insane. They didn't know what happened til he died and they did an autopsy. If you ever get an earwig in your ear, you've got to get it out immediately!"
Most of the time, stories like these are untrue or inaccurate. To see if the earwig story could be true, go to Interesting Facts and the first paragraph.
Sometimes, these stories are based on rigorously acquired data and scientifically accepted ideas. In this activity, you will use what you've learned about quality web sites and reliable resources to go online and see if you can verify the biology facts in a story of your choice. To do this, first, pick a biological or medical story that you would like to investigate for scientific accuracy. Next, search for web sites on the topic that are reliable and accurate. Record the story and web site information in the table on the Content Verification Form. After you have found at least three reliable sources to confirm or negate the science content in the story you chose, use the Fact or Fiction Criteria Table to help you decide whether it is fact, fiction, or unclear. Be prepared to share your findings and defend your decision.
Remember, a reliable web site should be written or reviewed by an expert, be easy to understand, contain little advertising, be up-to-date, and cover accurate information that can be cross-referenced with other expert sources. When choosing a web site for content verification, ask yourself the following questions: Who created the web site?, What is his or her background expertise or experience in the science field?, When was the web site created or last revised?, Are those dates recent enough for the information on the topic to be accurate and up-to-date?, Is the web site information supported with experimental data or scientific references?, Can you find the same information at other reliable web sites or references?
Biological information and medical advice is sometimes shared through stories such as urban legends and street lore. The following is a story that has been around for generations.
The Integrating Technology into Science Instruction webpages project is partially funded by grants from The Boeing Company and The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. Integrating Technology into Instruction is a project of Target Science (target@laep.org) and is displayed on the Los Angeles Educational Partnership Learning Exchange. Target Science is an initiative of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership.
Updated July 2000