Think Deeper Investigation

Absolutely. For very high-achieving Level 1 Health learners, I would avoid making critical thinking a lesson where you simply teach them “what critical thinking is.” Instead, make them use it to solve a problem where the obvious answer is not necessarily the best answer.

A really good approach would be a Health Investigation Challenge where students have to uncover what is actually influencing a person's health decision.

Lesson: Think Deeper – The Health Investigation

Year level: Level 1 NCEA Health Ability: Very high learners Length: 60–75 minutes Focus: Critical thinking, problem solving, influences, decision making and hauora Style: Hands-on investigation / puzzle challenge

Learning intention

Students will develop their ability to:

identify assumptions distinguish facts from opinions identify influences on health decisions consider multiple perspectives evaluate the reliability of information recognise bias use evidence to justify a conclusion understand that health decisions are complex Success criteria

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to say:

I can explain not only WHAT I think, but WHY I think it, using evidence.

🔎 The Big Challenge

Put this scenario on the board:

A 16-year-old student has started making significant changes to their lifestyle after seeing content on social media. Their friends think the changes are positive. Their parents are concerned. The student insists that they have researched everything and that they are making their own choices.

Your job: Determine whether this is genuinely an informed health decision.

Don't give them any more information.

Tell them:

"You have 45 minutes to investigate the case. You are not trying to prove that the decision is right or wrong. You are trying to determine whether the decision-making process is sound."

This distinction is important.

🧠 Stage 1: What Do You Actually Know?

Give groups a large piece of paper divided into:

FACT ASSUMPTION UNKNOWN What do we actually know? What are we assuming? What information do we need?

Give them the scenario only.

They have to sort every piece of information.

For example:

FACT

The student saw information on social media.

ASSUMPTION

Social media caused the decision.

UNKNOWN

What information did they actually see?

This gets them thinking about something really important:

Evidence ≠ interpretation

Give groups 5 minutes.

Then introduce the first challenge:

You can only investigate questions that you can justify as being relevant.

They must choose three questions they think are most important.

This prevents them from simply asking everything.

🧩 Stage 2: The Evidence Room

Now give each group an envelope containing pieces of evidence.

You could physically scatter these around the room so they have to collect them.

Evidence Card 1 – Social Media

The student follows several accounts that promote the lifestyle change.

Evidence Card 2 – Friends

Three close friends have recently made similar changes.

Evidence Card 3 – Family

The student's parents disagree with the decision and believe the student is being influenced by social media.

Evidence Card 4 – Research

The student says: "I've done heaps of research."

But the research they used comes primarily from influencers promoting the lifestyle.

Evidence Card 5 – Personal Experience

The student says the changes make them feel more confident and in control.

Evidence Card 6 – Alternative Information

Several credible health organisations provide information that contradicts some of the claims being made online.

Evidence Card 7 – Peer Pressure

The student's friends have told them that "everyone serious about their health is doing this."

Evidence Card 8 – Financial Influence

Some of the influencers promoting the lifestyle also sell products related to it.

Now the students have to organise the evidence.

🕵️ Stage 3: Find the Influences

Give each group cards labelled:

Individual Interpersonal Community Societal Cultural Media Economic

They have to place each piece of evidence under the influence they believe it represents.

But here's the twist:

One card can belong in multiple categories.

For example:

"Friends are doing it."

Could be:

Interpersonal influence

But it could also connect to:

Media influence

if the friends are copying social media trends.

This forces them to realise that health influences overlap.

Ask:

"Can you prove your categorisation?"

⚖️ Stage 4: The Bias Trap

Now give them six statements.

They must decide whether each statement contains a potential reasoning problem.

Statement A

"Millions of people follow this influencer, so the information must be reliable."

Statement B

"My friend did it and felt better, therefore it works."

Statement C

"A qualified health professional disagrees with the influencer, so one of them must be lying."

Statement D

"The student feels more confident, therefore the decision must be good for their overall hauora."

Statement E

"The influencer makes money from selling the product, so everything they say is false."

Statement F

"Most people our age aren't doing this, so it probably isn't a good idea."

Students have to identify what is wrong with the reasoning, rather than simply saying "true" or "false."

This is where your high-level learners should start getting into some really good discussion.

🔐 Stage 5: The Evidence Ranking Challenge

Give them these sources:

TikTok influencer Close friend Health teacher Government health website Online discussion forum Qualified health professional Advertisement Research article Celebrity Family member

Ask them:

Rank these from 1–10 according to how much weight you would give their evidence when making a health decision.

But there's a catch.

There is no single correct ranking.

They have to justify their ranking.

For example:

A family member might have very strong knowledge of the person involved, but not necessarily have expert knowledge about the health topic.

A health professional might have expert knowledge but not understand the individual's personal circumstances.

This introduces a really important critical-thinking concept:

The reliability of information depends on what question you are asking.

🧠 Stage 6: The "Change Your Mind" Challenge

This is the part I would definitely include with high learners.

Give them a conclusion:

"The student's decision is heavily influenced by external factors and therefore cannot be considered an informed decision."

Groups have 5 minutes to argue against it.

Then give them:

"Now argue FOR the statement."

Then:

"Which argument is stronger? Why?"

This forces them to move beyond:

"I agree."

into:

"I initially thought X because..., however, the evidence suggests Y because..."

That's genuine critical thinking.

🚨 Stage 7: The Missing Information

Give them one final card:

NEW INFORMATION

The student had previously struggled with feeling isolated and has found a supportive community through the online group.

Suddenly the situation changes.

Ask:

Has your conclusion changed?

Students must identify:

what changed why it changed which previous assumptions were challenged which evidence became more/less important how the person's hauora could be affected

This is fantastic for teaching that critical thinking requires you to be willing to change your position when new evidence appears.

🏁 Final Challenge

Each group must produce a Health Investigation Verdict.

They must answer:

1. What is happening?

Summarise the situation without giving an opinion.

2. What influences are present?

Identify at least four.

3. Which influence appears strongest?

Explain why.

4. What assumptions could someone make?

Identify at least two.

5. What evidence is reliable?

Explain why.

6. What information is missing?

Identify at least three things.

7. What impact could this have on hauora?

Consider:

taha tinana taha hinengaro taha whānau taha wairua 8. Final verdict

Is this an informed health decision?

But they must finish with:

"Our conclusion is ______ because ______. However, we acknowledge ______."

That final sentence is excellent for high-level learners because it requires qualification rather than black-and-white thinking.

🔥 Extension for Your Very Top Students

Give them a completely different task:

"Destroy Your Own Argument"

Once they have reached their conclusion, they have to identify:

The strongest argument against their own conclusion.

For example:

Our conclusion: The decision is heavily influenced by social media.

Then:

Strongest counterargument: The student may have independently chosen to research the topic after already deciding to make the change.

Then ask:

Does the counterargument weaken your conclusion?

This gets them into evaluation, rather than just identification.