Audience: middle-school learners and older, adapted by the teacher. Goal: distinguish fact, opinion and generalization, and improve an answer using evidence. Suggested time: 25 minutes. Materials: the passage, paper and a pen. No external tool or account is required.
Student passage — deliberately flawed fictional text: “Every city with trees has no heat problems. Green is the most beautiful colour. Planting one tree outside every home therefore solves all climate problems.” Do not present this as scientific information.
Task 1: classify each sentence as a checkable claim, opinion or generalization requiring qualification. Circle “every” and “all” and explain their effect.
Task 2: write two questions for evidence, such as: What other factors affect urban heat? What does a study measure and how?
Task 3: rewrite the passage in two short paragraphs: one identifies the evidence needed; the other explains what cannot yet be concluded. Do not invent a percentage or study.
Task 4: exchange worksheets. Identify one precise statement and one remaining claim needing a source.
Teacher guide: read together, allow 7 minutes for classification, 8 for revision and 5 for peer review. Add an appropriate reliable educational document about cities and climate if factual content is desired. Without a source, focus on identifying verification needs.
Indicative answer: the colour statement is an opinion. The other statements are unsupported generalizations. A suitable revision: “The effect of trees on a city’s heat requires evidence considering location and conditions. This passage does not justify saying that a single action solves all climate problems.” Accept alternative wording that preserves these limits.
Assessment: 0–2 each for classification, evidence questions, avoiding unjustified certainty, clear revision and peer feedback. Do not assess agreement with a particular opinion.
Adaptation: read aloud while providing written text and larger print, or work on one sentence at a time. Do not collect students’ names or worksheets through this site.
Water-and-plant extension: compare the fictional statements “the image is a measurement” and “the image documents a situation requiring measurement.” Ask what would support each. Do not collect student names or photographs or send children to unsafe water sites.