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Assessing Source Credibility
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Name:Date:
Assessing Source Credibility
Read each question carefully. Choose the best answer unless the question asks you to select more than one. Use details from the passage to support your answers.
Check the Clues
Think about who created a source, when it was published, and what evidence supports its claims.
1.A website about ocean animals says its article was written by a marine biologist who has studied sea turtles for 12 years. Which detail best supports the writer’s expertise?
- The writer has professional training and experience studying sea turtles.
- The website uses colorful pictures.
- The article has been shared by many people.
- The writer uses several long words.
2.A guide explains how to use a new app. Why would you check when the guide was published?
- The app may have changed, so newer directions may be more accurate.
- The date tells you whether the guide is entertaining.
- A guide with an old date must be incorrect.
- The date shows how many people wrote the guide.
3.A flyer says, “Our new playground is the best in town!” It gives no reasons, facts, or other viewpoints. What is a reasonable concern about this source?
- It may be biased because it makes a strong claim without supporting evidence.
- It must be reliable because it is printed on a flyer.
- It is current because it describes a new playground.
- It is balanced because it uses an excited tone.
4.Which TWO items would give a reader useful evidence for a claim about how much water a class uses?
- A table of the class’s recorded water use, with the dates and method explained
- A student’s opinion that the class uses too much water
- A report quoting a named water researcher and describing the researcher’s study
- A slogan saying, “Save water today!”
5.Match each word part with its meaning.
- cred- (as in credible)
- bio- (as in biography)
- exper- (as in experiment)
- evidence
- bias
- try or test
- information that helps show whether a claim is true
- a leaning toward one side or viewpoint
- believe or trust
- life
Read and Investigate
Use the source details and passage to decide how much you can trust the information.
A tree trunk grows a new layer of wood each year. These layers, called tree rings, can help researchers learn about past growing conditions. In a study described by the Forest Science Center, researchers compared the width of rings from several pine trees with rainfall records from nearby weather stations. The rings were wider in many of the wetter years. The center’s article was written by Dr. Elena Ruiz, a forest ecologist, and reviewed by two other scientists. It was published in 2023. The article explains that tree rings are helpful clues, but they do not tell the whole story: insects, fires, and other conditions can also affect a tree’s growth.
6.Name one detail in “A Look Inside a Tree” that suggests the author or source has knowledge of the topic.
7.What evidence did the researchers compare to study the connection between tree growth and rainfall?
8.The article was published in 2023. Explain why the date could matter to a reader, and name one thing the date cannot prove by itself.
9.Does the article present a limitation of using tree rings as evidence? Give one detail from the passage to support your answer.
10.A classmate says, “This article is definitely true because it was published in 2023.” What is one reason that this conclusion is not strong enough?
11.Write two different checks you can use when deciding whether an information source is credible.
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