Exploring the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Purpose/Goal: This activity is built to enable students to determine the accuracy of different online resources. In distinguishing between reliable and unreliable sources online, students are able to base their knowledge off of correct information that they found while researching. With such an available resource like the internet, it is imperative that we teach our students how to distinguish between correct and incorrect information so they can succeed in the future. Overall, this activity should teach students that more than one resource is required in order to confirm the validity of a source and its information.

Context: This information would be helpful in a 6th/7th grade science course, where students learn more about evolution of different species. While learning more about evolution, students must be able to use the internet in order to find information that helps them better understand how different species evolved. This activity would enable students to understand the significance of accurate research, which will be especially helpful in future research endeavors.

Activity: Assign students to read more about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus on Help Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus from Extinction. Then, have them answer the following questions, using other research they might find online in order to crosscheck information:

1. What is the history of the website? Look at some of the other articles on the website (in this case, on zapatopi.net). Does this website look like something that is factually sound, especially when referring to nearly-extinct cephalopods? What about the site's domain name? Is .net affiliated with any well-known and trustworthy organizations or institutions?
2. Similarly, who is the author of the webpage, and what qualifications does this person have that enables them to teach about this material?
3. Click on some of the links on this page, and observe the different references that the author provides. How might these links be questionable (places like Wikipedia, and The Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs)? What do some of these links have in common? Hint: Look at their URLs
4. Who does the website claim is the Tree Octopus' main predators? How might this be a sign that the website is valid/invalid?

Have a class discussion surrounding this information. After answering these questions, do students still find the website to be reputable? Did students immediately believe everything that they read on the website, only to change their minds after doing research, or did students question the website from the very beginning? The goal of this activity was to enable students to determine the validity of a website - did it work?

The best way for students to determine whether a source is reliable or not is to have them examine the website, and its history, a lot closer. In cases like this one, some of the links and information on the page are a sure sign that can determine whether the website can be trusted or not.

Feel free to try this activity yourself, or have students comment their findings below!