Reliable sources

From this list of elements on a web page, state which ones help assess its reliability and which do not, justifying each response: known authorship, publication date, number of "likes", attractive design, cited sources, spelling mistakes.

Many websites have an "About us" or "About" section. Explain three things you would check in that section before trusting the web page, and what you would suspect if that section did not exist or were empty.

Write down three red flags that would make you doubt a web page at first glance (for example, a headline written to cause fear or shock), and give a made-up example of each.

To keep only the sources that are trustworthy, you can pass the results through a series of filters, as shown in the diagram, but one of the filters is covered up.

Propose the missing filtering question in the covered step and explain why it is important to apply it before using a source in a project.

Explain the difference between a primary source and a secondary source using this scenario: for a project about life in the 1960s, your grandmother tells you what her school was like, and you also read a history book that summarises that era.

On a collaborative online encyclopaedia, almost anyone can edit articles. Explain the advantages and risks of this, and describe how you would use it correctly as a starting point for a project without relying on it completely.

Classify these four headlines as "fact" or "opinion" and justify each decision: (a) "The Ebro River is 930 kilometres long", (b) "The Ebro is the most beautiful river in Spain", (c) "Yesterday it rained 23 litres per square metre in Zaragoza", (d) "Cities by the river are the best places to live".

A basketball match ends in controversy in the final minute. A newspaper from one city runs the headline "Scandalous theft in the final second", while the rival city's newspaper headlines "Deserved victory in a thrilling finish". Explain what source bias is, how it is detected in this case, and how you would write a neutral summary of the match.

You are looking for information for a project on urban mobility and you find an article titled "Why this electric scooter is the safest on the market", signed by "Editorial Staff" and with a small tag at the end stating "Sponsored content by EcoScooters". The text only highlights advantages of the product and includes a link with a discount code to their store. Justify why this article lacks neutrality compared to an independent journalistic report, explain what biases it presents, and design a search strategy (with specific keywords, operators, or types of sources) to find the weak points or actual failures of that model.

Cross-checking information does not mean finding it repeated on three websites, because those three websites may have copied it from the same incorrect source. Explain what it means for sources to be "independent", and describe how you would verify a statistic about the population of your province using three genuinely independent sources.

A false statement appears copied, almost word for word, across twenty different websites. Explain why the fact that an idea is repeated in many places does not guarantee that it is true, and describe how you would attempt to track down the original source of the statement.

A headline reads: "Ice cream consumption causes drownings: both rise together every summer". Explain the difference between correlation and causation, what third factor explains this case, and write a correct headline that informs without misleading.

A photo of an impressive flash flood is circulating on social media, presented as "from this week in your town", but the image is actually from another country and six years ago. Explain what a reverse image search is, how it would help you uncover the deception, and what other two checks you would carry out.

A nutrition blog enthusiastically recommends a "miracle" smoothie, and all its links lead to the online store selling it. Analyse the reliability of that page taking into account authorship, potential financial interests, and the cited sources, and propose where you would cross-check the information.

On the high school's social network, a ten-second video goes viral where the mayor appears to announce that classes are suspended tomorrow due to an extreme cold wave. Looking closely, the voice sounds metallic and the outline of the mouth shows a blurry flicker that does not match the pronunciation of certain words. Technically justify why these clues point to a "deepfake", predict what consequences sharing it without verifying would have, and design a three-step protocol that students should follow to verify the news before staying home.