Lab 0

Part 1:

Read, listen, and pay attention.  There are statistics all round, for example, Clinton leads Sanders 48% to 45%, according to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, both numbers within the margin of error.  Find a statistic in the news, something reputable, and it need not be recent.  Write a short paragraph on what the statistic is, where you saw or heard this statistic, and what you think the statistic means.  

Part 2:

To put it bluntly, people claim crazy shit online all the time. For example; My aunt claimed that you can do self CPR by coughing deeply or a friend of mine claimed that they became magnetic after they received the second dose of the COVID vaccine. These are very inflammatory and dangerous examples, but anyone can be guilty of believing something that is provably untrue. (I once shared a picture supposedly from a Rover on Mars with an incredible view of the stars when it turns out that the sky was completely fake.)

It is so important that we take the time to find sources to back up what we claim as true. To that end, your group should decide on a claim, something you believe is true or that could be true, it can be something:

• medical, like the vaccine makes you magnetic (find an article from the CDC to show that is not true)
• political (if you're brave)
• social, like statistics on gun violence in the US compared to other developed nations, or
• ecological, like a claim that hurricane season or fire season has become worse (define worse!) in recent years (certainly seems to be true based on the news, but can you find the data to prove it?)
• perhaps look through your social media to find and use something someone shared (crazy or reasonable),

Whatever your group wants to do. Then take this claim and find a reputable resource to back up or refute that claim. Reputable sources are news outlets that cite reputable sources like the CDC or other independent government/scientific agencies, the more neutral the news outlet, the better. (what news outlets are considered reputable or neutral?) or directly cite independent government/scientific agencies, watchdog groups, fact checking sources. Note that, the news outlet need not be based in the US.

What to turn in:

Click the submit button to enter:

(10 points) Part 1: Write a short paragraph on what the statistic is, where you saw or heard this statistic, and what you think the statistic means.  

(15 points) Part 2: 

• State the claim your group decided to use for this assignment.
• What reputable resource to back up or refute that claim? Include any url's or article titles, publication source, with publication dates. You may have more than one source.
• Did your resource(s) support your claim? refute?

Part 2 does not need to become complicated. If you are having trouble finding information about your claim, then abandon it for something different. It is perfectly fine to choose a claim that one or more members of your group knows a lot about. The claim also does not have to be of grave importance. For example: You can't really grow potatoes in human feces ... or can you? 

Let me know if you have any questions!