Claim Testing
History is full of bold claims, and not all of them stand up to a closer look. These classroom-ready resources equip students with the skills to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and build solid arguments. Less guesswork. More proof.
How to Teach Claim Testing: Tools for Teachers
Teacher Chat: Claim Testing
Blog: How Can We Help Students Identify Disinformation? Teach Them Claim Testing
Arm students with claim-testing and sourcing skills so they can apply intuition, logic, authority, and evidence to today’s disinformation-filled world.
PD Event: Fact-Check Like a Pro
Experience OER Project’s claim-testing method and help your students confidently evaluate which information to trust.
Introducing Claim Testing
There are lots of fun ways to introduce claim testing to students. Get some ideas and share ones that you’ve tried.
Claim Testing Successes
How do teachers employ claim-testing practice in their classrooms? Dive into teacher-tested examples and try one in your classroom.
Teach Tomorrow: Lessons on Claim Testing
Lesson 1.4
Claim Testing
How do we know if the claims people make are true? In Big History, we test claims with four claim testers: intuition, logic, authority, and evidence.
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Lesson 1.1
Understanding Climate Change
Kick off with an opener that gets students sharing what they think climate change is, then use evidence, videos, infographics, and data to build a clearer understanding.
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Claim Testing Activities and Resources
Claim Testing: Introduction
Activity
Claim Testing: Introduction
Learn how to use the four claim testers— intuition, logic, authority, and evidence—to evaluate statements and arguments made by other people.
Claim Testing: Evidence
Activity
Claim Testing: Evidence
Is all evidence the same? Are some types of evidence better than others? This activity will help you evaluate claims and learn how to use the evidence claim tester.
Claim Testing: Evaluating Authority
Activity
Claim Testing: Evaluating Authority
This activity introduces three criteria you can use to evaluate the authority behind a claim.
Claim Testing: Life
Closer
Claim Testing: Life
Are rocky planets the best places for life? Would mammals exist without the extinction of the dinosaurs? Time to test some claims!
Claim Testing: Imperialism
Activity
Claim Testing: Imperialism
Use evidence to support or challenge statements about imperialism, and gain insight into the motivations behind colonialism and how people responded to it.
Claim Testing: Global Conflict
Activity
Claim Testing: Global Conflict
People make a lot of big claims about the world wars. In this activity, it’s your job to evaluate some of these claims.
Resources to Connect Climate Change and Claim Testing
Is this misinformation — or misunderstanding? In a world where opinions often sound like facts, claim-testing tools give us a way to pause, check the evidence, and make informed decisions—especially around climate change.
How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real?
Article
How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real?
Dig into four charts about global temperatures, emissions, and the correlation between them.
Claim Testing: Earth’s Climate Record
Activity
Claim Testing: Earth’s Climate Record
Practice your claim-testing skills by evaluating what you’ve read in the data exploration and making a claim of your own.
Claim Testing: Evaluating Authority
Activity
Claim Testing: Evaluating Authority
This activity introduces three criteria you can use to evaluate the authority behind a claim.