Fact vs. Opinion, Expertise, Scientific Method: A Deep-Dive into Critical Thinking

Fact vs. Opinion, Expertise, Scientific Method: A Deep-Dive into Critical Thinking

This editable Powerpoint presentation with 14 slides allows teachers to select how deep a dive to embark on with their class when teaching students about facts and opinions. It includes information on several important critical thinking and media literacy topics that will help students start to become thoughtful learners and members of society:

1. How do you differentiate between facts and opinions? (Includes practice questions and answer key.)

2. How do ideas or hypotheses become facts through the use of the scientific method?

3. Why do we sometimes need to trust experts in different fields and how can we evaluate different sources of information?

4. Links to current events and trends and why presenting misinformation as your opinion can be dangerous.

5. Historical trends in the knowledge sources we have accepted as a society and where we might go from here.

How to Use:

You can decide how much or how little of this presentation to show your class. You may want to start with the fact and opinions slides early in the year and refer to some of the more complex ideas in another term. You can edit the slides as you see fit for your specific class. After presenting all of the slides, you can have your students write a reflection using the prompts included on the last slide.

Grades to Use With:

This lesson is designed for high school students in grades 9-12 to help enhance their critical thinking and media literacy skills. It could be used in ELA, Science, or Social Studies classes.

What's Included:

A total of 14 pages:

Title Page

Definitions

Facts

Opinions

Practice Questions

Grey Areas

Measurement

Experts

Differing Standards for Different Experts

Why Does it Matter?

Misinformation

Brief History of Knowledge Sources

Reflection

Please note: the information in this presentation is based on an understanding of the scientific method and well-proven facts such as the existence of climate change and the efficacy of vaccines.