Critical thinking about conspiracy theories

It's always useful to find resources that can be used to promote a combination of critical thinking, cyber-citizenship, research and history (to name a few). The following resource came to me via Learning Times, and provides some material that I'm sure could be used very creatively in classrooms: 

Conspiracy Theories in Aerospace History
A lesson in Critical Thinking for the Internet Age

You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. How do you evaluate the reliability of online information?

Check out the conference archives from this National Air and Space Museum interactive online conference developed especially for teachers and secondary students. Historians and educators from the Museum, and guests from the Department of the Navy and National History Day, demonstrate critical thinking skills they use to evaluate information.

Four major events in aerospace history that have captured people's imagination and given rise to speculation and conspiracy theories were discussed:

  1. Thinking Critically – Apollo Moon Landings
  2. Thinking Critically – Amelia Earhart‚s Disappearance
  3. Thinking Critically – UFOs
  4. Thinking Critically – Attack on Pearl Harbor

Find the exciting FREE conference recordings here.

One thought on “Critical thinking about conspiracy theories

  1. That seems to be the favorite come back for anybody who is "educated" . Just accuse the other person of being a "conspiracy theorist" and reading "conspiracy theories" from the internet, and then you automatically won the debate. Isnt this funny?

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