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Blue Skies

     Looking for ways to celebrate Critical Thinking Awareness Day this February 15th?  Then look no further!  Here we have a list of activities (broken down by student age categories) to give you some ideas about things you can do to take part.  Keep in mind, these are just suggestions.  If you have activities that you would like to suggest for our list, please let us know by emailing us at:   info@westvirginiaskepticssociety.com 

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Activities for Elementary Schools

Which Line Is Longer? 

This is a 10-15 minute activity that promotes the concept of questioning our own ideas and introduces students to optical illusions.  A free Powerpoint is included along with a lesson plan!

The "Words Have Power" Experiment 

This activity introduces students to the idea of double-blind studies and the scientific method using a well-known internet experiment to see if how we speak to rice can affect how moldy rice gets.  The activity comes with a free Powerpoint and lesson plans!

Skeptical Birding

In this activity, students will learn how to look for evidence and learn how an eBird reviewer relies on questioning when deciding if a public post is accurate.  This activity comes with a classroom presentation guide, lesson plans, and more.

Scooby-Doo, Who, What, When, and Where Are You?

This activity uses Scooby Doo and the gang to teach critical thinking skills!  Includes a classroom presentation, response sheet and lesson plans.

Activities for Middle Schools

Fact or Fairy?

This activity looks at the story of the Cottingley Fairies, the photographs of alleged fairies captured in 1920.  This lesson explores some of the first manipulated photos in history.

Building a Skept-O-Meter

This activity teaches students how to weigh evidence, look at what evidence is and how to evaluate it.

Which Line Is Longer? 

This is a 10-15 minute activity that promotes the concept of questioning our own ideas and introduces students to optical illusions.  A free Powerpoint is included along with a lesson plan!

The "Words Have Power" Experiment 

This activity introduces students to the idea of double-blind studies and the scientific method using a well-known internet experiment to see if how we speak to rice can affect how moldy rice gets.  The activity comes with a free Powerpoint and lesson plans!

Skeptical Birding

In this activity, students will learn how to look for evidence and learn how an eBird reviewer relies on questioning when deciding if a public post is accurate.  This activity comes with a classroom presentation guide, lesson plans, and more.

Activities for  High Schools

Science Friction Movie Viewing

In this activity, students will have the opportunity to watch the movie, Science Friction, a documentary which examines how scientists and science communicators are edited, taken out of context, and misrepresented in the media.  The movie is free to download for educators and comes with free lesson plans.  This activity is designed for high school and college age students. 

Fact or Fairy?

This activity looks at the story of the Cottingley Fairies, the photographs of alleged fairies captured in 1920.  This lesson explores some of the first manipulated photos in history.

Which Line Is Longer? 

This is a 10-15 minute activity that promotes the concept of questioning our own ideas and introduces students to optical illusions.  A free Powerpoint is included along with a lesson plan!

The "Words Have Power" Experiment 

This activity introduces students to the idea of double-blind studies and the scientific method using a well-known internet experiment to see if how we speak to rice can affect how moldy rice gets.  The activity comes with a free Powerpoint and lesson plans!

Skeptical Birding

In this activity, students will learn how to look for evidence and learn how an eBird reviewer relies on questioning when deciding if a public post is accurate.  This activity comes with a classroom presentation guide, lesson plans, and more.

Activities for  Colleges and Universities 

The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See Movie Viewing

This movie teaches critical thinking using UFO’s and UFO related items as a lens to do so.  It looks at conspiracy theories, and how to.  It is a wonderful opportunity to address some of the more widespread videos and talking points in mainstream media today.  The movie is free to use for educators. 

Science Friction Movie Viewing

In this activity, students will have the opportunity to watch the movie, Science Friction, a documentary which examines how scientists and science communicators are edited, taken out of context, and misrepresented in the media.  The movie is free to download for educators and comes with free lesson plans.  This activity is designed for high school and college age students. 

The "Words Have Power" Experiment 

This activity introduces students to the idea of double-blind studies and the scientific method using a well-known internet experiment to see if how we speak to rice can affect how moldy rice gets.  The activity comes with a free Powerpoint and lesson plans!

Please Don't Fail Me

An engaging activity where college students try to convince their college professors to not fail them purposely using logical fallacies to do so.  The activity teaches fallacies in a way that is enjoyable and easy to understand.

FLOATER Tool Kit for Evaluating Claims

In this activity, students learn how to assess claims and their credibility using the FLOATER model, which looks at Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Replicability

Activities for Libraries

Science Friction Movie Viewing

In this activity, students will have the opportunity to watch the movie, Science Friction, a documentary which examines how scientists and science communicators are edited, taken out of context, and misrepresented in the media.  The movie is free to download for educators and comes with free lesson plans.  This activity is designed for high school and college age students. 

The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See Movie Viewing

This movie teaches critical thinking using UFO’s and UFO related items as a lens to do so.  It looks at conspiracy theories, and how to.  It is a wonderful opportunity to address some of the more widespread videos and talking points in mainstream media today.  The movie is free to use for educators. 

Skeptical Birding

In this activity, students will learn how to look for evidence and learn how an eBird reviewer relies on questioning when deciding if a public post is accurate.  This activity comes with a classroom presentation guide, lesson plans, and more.

The "Words Have Power" Experiment 

This activity introduces students to the idea of double-blind studies and the scientific method using a well-known internet experiment to see if how we speak to rice can affect how moldy rice gets.  The activity comes with a free Powerpoint and lesson plans!

FLOATER Tool Kit for Evaluating Claims

In this activity, students learn how to assess claims and their credibility using the FLOATER model, which looks at Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Replicability

Activities for everyone to Enjoy!

Take your pick!  If you see an activity that you think you would enjoy, go for it!  Any opportunity to exercise critical thinking is an opportunity that is worth the time.  And don’t forget, if you come across something that you think would be a nice addition to this list, please feel free to let us know at: info@westvirginiaskepticssociety.com

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