Three months ago, I announced the release of Pseudoscience Prevention, a website and initiative intended to inform the public about a handful of historical and contemporary pseudosciences, as well as provide students, educators, and science enthusiasts with strategies to fact-check their own beliefs for pseudoscientific influence. (Learn more about Pseudoscience Prevention here.) In other words, it was a website that mainly served for informational purposes regarding pseudosciences. However, what if there is a way to prompt students and enthusiasts to actually apply, recall, and reflect upon what they have learned about the different pseudosciences described in this website? What if there is a more tangible way to help students not only learn about fact-checking but actually fact-check their own beliefs? This is where Pseudoscience Prevention's worksheets come in!
How do I find them?
Worksheets are embedded before every "Works Cited" page for each topic in the "Facts and Information" section. This means there are three worksheets for every topic (Pseudosciences in Biology, Pseudosciences in Chemistry, Pseudosciences in Physics, and Pseudosciences Today.)
You can locate these worksheets in three simple steps!
Hover over the "Facts and Information" section on the site menu.
2. Select one of the four pseudoscience categories.
Physics page
3. Around the end of each presentation, you will find PDF icons that each correspond with a worksheet. If you click on one of these icons, you will be redirected to one of the worksheets.
"Worksheet slide" in the "Pseudosciences in Physics" page.
Worksheets can also be found at the end of every slideshow for each strategy. Just click on the "Strategies" section and select one of the strategies listed within that webpage. Once you select a strategy, you will be redirected to an information slideshow explaining what this strategy is and how you can use it. You can then find a clickable PDF icon for the worksheet that corresponds with this strategy near the end of these slideshows.
Worksheet for "Identify, Clarify, and Verify"
What can I find in them?
The twelve pseudoscience worksheets each contain two pages: the first page consists of three free-response questions to help students recall, apply, and reflect upon this information. Scroll down to the second page, and you will find an answer key containing sample responses.
Here is a worksheet for the Learning Styles Myth (this can be found in "Pseudosciences today):
Screenshot of the three FRQs
Screenshot of the answer key
The strategies, meanwhile, contain information and examples for anyone struggling with or new to the strategy. Then, there are fill-in-the blank prompts and templates to help students apply these strategies.
Here is the worksheet for "Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis:"
Screenshot of the Introduction
Screenshot of the template
You will find a total of 15 worksheets: 12 for the pseudosciences and 3 for the strategies!
What else can I expect from Pseudoscience Prevention?
On the downside, Pseudoscience Prevention is till a work-in-progress. On the upside, that only means there is more to come! While I do not have specific dates for these plans, here are some future updates you should stay tuned for:
Worksheets for the "Kids" section
Additional pseudosciences (I am thinking about a section for historical pseudosciences in psychology and/or a section for pseudosmathematics/mathematical quackery.)
A Youtube channel or podcast (maybe both!)
Want to check out these worksheets yourself? Visit Pseudoscience Prevention to locate, download, and print these worksheets!
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