Quiz: Becoming a Fact Checker
Test what you learned in this chapter. Read each question, pick the best answer, then click Show Answer to see if you got it right.
1. What is a fact check?
- The act of looking up a claim to see whether it is true before you believe or share it
- A test you take at the start of the year
- A list of all the apps on a phone
- A game you play with flashcards
Show Answer
The correct answer is A. A fact check is the act of looking up a claim to see whether it is true before you share it. A fact check can be quick or long, depending on the size of the claim. Wild claims deserve more checking than small everyday ones. Every great digital citizen can do a fact check with a little practice.
Concept Tested: Fact Check
2. What is lateral reading?
- Reading a book from back to front
- Opening new browser tabs to check a story or a website outside of itself using trusted sources
- Reading only the first line of an article
- Saying words from left to right
Show Answer
The correct answer is B. Lateral reading is the habit of opening new tabs and checking a story from outside the page that made the claim. You "read sideways" instead of just down the page. It is what real journalists and librarians do, and it is the single best fact-checking habit a student can build.
Concept Tested: Lateral Reading
3. What is a trusted source?
- The first website that shows up in a search
- Any friend who sends you a message
- A website or organization with a long history of telling the truth, fixing mistakes, and naming its sources
- A random post with lots of likes
Show Answer
The correct answer is C. A trusted source is a website or organization with a long track record of telling the truth, naming where its information comes from, and fixing its mistakes. Big news organizations, science groups, museums, libraries, encyclopedias, and government education sites are common trusted sources. Your school librarian can help you find the best ones.
Concept Tested: Trusted Source
4. What is the difference between a headline and the article below it?
- They are always exactly the same
- The headline is the loud title, and the article is the full story — a smart fact checker reads the whole article, not just the headline
- The headline is the picture and the article is the sound
- Only adults can read headlines
Show Answer
The correct answer is B. Headlines can exaggerate — sometimes a headline says one thing while the article underneath quietly says the opposite. If you only read the headline, you can be fooled even by a real news story. A smart fact checker reads the whole article before sharing.
Concept Tested: Headline Vs Article
5. Why does the chapter say "a viral story deserves extra checking, not less"?
- Because algorithm amplification boosts loud or emotional stories to more people, so the fact that "everyone is seeing it" does not mean it is true
- Because viral stories come with their own fact checker
- Because viral means verified
- Because viral stories disappear fast
Show Answer
The correct answer is A. Algorithm amplification is when recommendation feeds push certain stories to more and more people because those stories get lots of clicks and reactions. Loud, shocking, or emotional stories often get amplified more than calm, careful ones. Seeing it everywhere is not proof it is true.
Concept Tested: Algorithm Amplification
6. What is an "out of context" photo?
- A drawing made with crayons
- A photo taken in a classroom
- A photo with no colors
- A real photo used with a caption that tells a wrong story about what is happening
Show Answer
The correct answer is D. In an out-of-context photo, the picture itself is real, but the caption tells a false story. A real photo of a storm-damaged tree might be reshared as "a tornado in our city last night" when the tree fell years ago in a different state. The lie is in the caption, not the picture.
Concept Tested: Out Of Context
7. Aanya finds an amazing photo online with the caption "whale jumping next to a boat in Hawaii last week." What should she do first?
- Put the photo in her report right away
- Share it with her cousin
- Do an author check, a date check, and a source comparison before trusting it
- Delete the website and move on forever
Show Answer
The correct answer is C. The photo is dramatic enough to earn a real fact check. Aanya should find out who posted it, when it was taken, and whether a trusted source like a museum or ocean-life website has the same story. Reverse image searches also help. If the steps do not line up, she should use a different photo and give credit.
Concept Tested: Fact Check Steps
8. Priya sees a story from 2017 being shared as if it happened "this week." Which fact-check step would catch this trick?
- Author check
- Clicking more ads
- Turning on location sharing
- Date check
Show Answer
The correct answer is D. A date check is the step where you find out when the story or photo was actually made. Some misinformation is not even fake — it is just old news being shared as if it happened yesterday. Looking at publication dates (and sometimes using reverse image search) is the quickest way to catch it.
Concept Tested: Date Check
9. Jordan's friend sends him a wild story. Jordan wants to be a great fact checker. Should he be a skeptic or a cynic, and why?
- A cynic, because cynics never get fooled
- Neither one — great fact checkers believe everything
- A skeptic, because skeptics ask for proof and then change their mind when the evidence is strong
- A cynic, because cynics are always right
Show Answer
The correct answer is C. A skeptic asks for good evidence and is willing to change their mind when the evidence is strong. A cynic has already decided nothing is true and stops looking. Great fact checkers are skeptics — curious, hopeful, and willing to follow the proof wherever it leads.
Concept Tested: Slow Down Habit and Skeptic vs Cynic
10. Emma sees a stunning photo that looks almost too amazing to be real — bigger, brighter, and wilder than any photo she has ever seen. What is this photo most likely showing signs of?
- Being an edited image that was changed on a computer
- Being a trusted source
- Being a date check
- Being a school assignment
Show Answer
The correct answer is A. Edited images are photos that somebody changed on a computer — to make something look bigger, to add something that was not there, or to change the colors. A photo that looks "too amazing to be real" is often an edited image. A reverse image search with help from a trusted adult can often find the original.
Concept Tested: Edited Image