A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to TextsSmart Research and Digital Citizenship: Quality, Relevance and Respect Online
C3.3 A2.1 A2.2 A2.3 A2.6 A2.7 A1.1About 50 minutes
Learning goals- I can evaluate the quality of information (credible, accurate, valid, current) and its relevance for a specific purpose.
- I can gather information from multiple perspectives and give credit to my sources.
- I can spot signs that an image or post might be edited or made by AI, and check it before sharing.
- I can explain my rights and responsibilities online, protect my privacy, and build a positive digital footprint.
- I can use the design process with digital tools and collaborate online safely and respectfully.
Words to know
credible
Trustworthy, because it comes from an expert or reliable organization.
accurate
Correct; matches facts you can check in other reliable sources.
valid
Logical and supported by real evidence.
relevant
Connected to and useful for your specific purpose or question.
primary source
Information you collect first-hand, like your own survey or measurements, or an original document.
digital footprint
The trail of information you leave online: posts, comments, photos, likes and searches.
AI-generated
Made by a computer program (artificial intelligence) instead of directly by a person or camera.
Remember from Grade 5
In Grade 5 you checked sources for validity, credibility, accuracy and currency, used lateral reading, noticed AI-made content, protected your personal data, built a positive digital identity, used the design process, and collaborated online with a class in Iqaluit.
In Grade 6 you'll add relevance: is a source useful for my exact purpose? You'll also think about your digital footprint and what to do when things go wrong online.
Hook: The lunch waste mystery
Ms. Okafor's Grade 6 class noticed that the garbage bins after lunch were full of food. Their research question: How can our school reduce food waste at lunch? They found six sources. Before reading on, predict: which sources will be most useful?
The six sources (described for this lesson)
- The city's waste and recycling website: explains the local green bin program and what food scraps can go in it. Updated this year.
- **A blog post, 10 Cute Lunch Box Ideas,** on a company website that sells lunch boxes. At the bottom, in small print: Sponsored.
- A newspaper article from 12 years ago about food waste in restaurants in Europe.
- A viral picture shared thousands of times: a mountain of lunches spilling out of a dumpster, captioned THIS IS EVERY SCHOOL IN CANADA!!! No photographer, no source, and the lettering on the dumpster is jumbled nonsense.
- The class's own survey: for five days, students weighed the food left over after lunch and recorded what kind of food it was.
- A Government of Canada web page about food waste at home, with tips for planning meals and storing food.
Worked exampleLet's evaluate quality and relevance
Rate each source for quality (credible, accurate, current, unbiased) and relevance to the question How can our school reduce food waste at lunch?
- Source 1 (city site): high quality (official, current) and highly relevant (tells the school what can go in the green bin).
- Source 2 (sponsored blog): lower quality because it's sponsored by a company that wants to sell lunch boxes; partly relevant (some ideas might help pack smaller lunches), but check against other sources.
- Source 3 (old news article): probably credible when written, but old, and about restaurants in Europe, so low relevance to a Canadian school lunch today.
- Source 4 (viral picture): very low quality: no source, an exaggerated caption (EVERY school), and jumbled lettering, a common clue that an image may be AI-generated or edited. Don't use or share it.
- Source 5 (class survey): a primary source, highly relevant because it's about their own school. Quality depends on careful measuring.
- Source 6 (Government of Canada): high quality (official); partly relevant (it's about homes, but tips like planning portions could apply to lunches).
Best for this purpose: Sources 5, 1 and 6. Quality and relevance both matter: a credible source can still be irrelevant (Source 3), and a relevant-looking one can be low quality (Sources 2 and 4).
The six sources placed by quality and relevance (positions are judgments, not measurements). The best sources for this question sit in the top-right corner.| Question | What it checks |
|---|
| Who made it? Are they an expert or an official organization? | Credibility |
| Can I find the same facts in two other reliable sources? | Accuracy |
| Is the evidence real and logical? | Validity |
| When was it made or updated? | Currency |
| Whose perspective is it? Is someone selling something? | Perspective and bias |
| Does it help answer my exact question, for my place and time? | Relevance |
Is that image real?
Some images are edited or made by AI. Clues include:
- Jumbled or nonsense writing on signs or labels.
- Strange details: extra fingers, melting objects, shadows going the wrong way.
- No source, no photographer, and a caption in ALL CAPS with exaggeration.
- It's too perfect or too shocking to be true.
What to do: don't share it. With a grown-up, check trusted news sites to see if they reported it, or use a reverse image search to find where it first appeared. AI tools aren't always bad. They can help people create, but pretending an AI image is a real photo is misleading.
Funny but trueSome AI-made pictures give people six fingers or write signs in alphabet soup. Before you share a picture, count the fingers!
Your rights, responsibilities and digital footprint
The class wants to post its findings on the school website. Here's how they act as digital citizens:
- Permission: they ask permission before posting photos of students, and they don't post full names, faces without permission, or the school's schedule.
- Credit: they list their sources: City waste website; Government of Canada; class survey.
- Digital footprint: everything posted can last a long time and be copied. They ask: Would we be proud of this post in five years?
- Respectful comments: they plan to reply to comments politely, even when people disagree.
If something goes wrong online (a mean comment, a scary message, or someone shares your photo without asking):
- Don't reply in anger.
- Save it (a screenshot) with a grown-up's help.
- Tell a trusted adult.
- Block and report using the platform's tools.
If you see someone else being targeted, support them and tell an adult. Being an upstander helps the whole online community.
The design process with digital tools
The class uses the design process to create a solution:
- Define: Too much food from lunches ends up in the garbage, especially fruit and sandwich crusts. (from the survey)
- Research: sources 1, 5 and 6.
- Brainstorm: a green-bin sorting station? A share table for unopened snacks? A video for families about packing smaller portions?
- Choose and plan: a short slideshow for families and a sorting sign for the lunchroom.
- Create: they use a school-approved slideshow tool, add their own photos (with permission) and a graph of their survey results with an axis that starts at 0.
- Test: they show it to a Grade 3 class and to parents at pickup.
- Improve: parents said the text was too small on phones, so they made it bigger and shortened it.
Collaborating online: they share their project, through their teachers and a school-approved platform, with a Grade 6 class in another community that is working on the same problem. They listen to how that community handles food waste, use respectful language, and ask before using the other class's ideas or photos.
Stop, think, check, ask
Stop before you click, post, share or download. Think: Is it true? Kind? Safe? Do I have permission? Check: who made it, when, and whether it's relevant. Ask a trusted grown-up when you're unsure. These are transferable skills: you'll use them in every subject and for the rest of your life.
Hands-on activityMini research project with a design twist
You need: a kitchen scale (or a measuring cup), paper, a pencil, a grown-up, and a device a grown-up sets up.
- Question: How much food does our family throw away in a week? (or another question about your home).
- Primary source: for 5 days, measure leftover food going into the garbage or green bin, and write down what it was.
- Secondary sources: with a grown-up, find two credible sources with tips. Rate each for quality and relevance using the six questions. Write your sources down.
- Design: make a solution (a fridge sign, a meal-planning chart, a short slideshow). Test it with your family for one week, then improve it.
- Digital citizenship check: before sharing anything online, ask a grown-up, remove personal information, and credit your sources.
Your turn
1Why is the class survey (Source 5) so relevant?
It's a primary source about their own school's lunch waste, which is exactly what their question is about.
2Why is the 12-year-old article about European restaurants less useful?
It's old (not current) and about restaurants in Europe, not a Canadian school lunch today, so it's less relevant.
3Name two clues that the viral picture might be AI-generated or edited.
Any two: jumbled/nonsense lettering; no source or photographer; an exaggerated ALL-CAPS caption; it seems too shocking to be true.
4What's the problem with Source 2?
It's sponsored by a company that sells lunch boxes, so it may be biased toward selling products.
5What is a digital footprint?
The trail of information you leave online: posts, comments, photos, likes and searches.
6Someone posts a mean comment on the class's project. What four steps should the class take?
Don't reply in anger; save it (screenshot) with an adult; tell a trusted adult; block and report.
7What improvement did the class make after testing, and why?
They made the text bigger and shorter because parents said it was too small on phones.
More practice: warm-up
Connected to and useful for your specific purpose or question.
2Is a class survey a primary or secondary source?
3Should you share an image if you don't know where it came from?
4Name one piece of personal information you shouldn't post.
Any one: full name, address, phone number, school schedule, passwords, birthday, photos of your home.
5What is the first step of the design process?
More practice: on your own
1Can a source be credible but not relevant? Give an example from the lesson.
Yes. The old newspaper article may have been credible, but it's about European restaurants 12 years ago, so it doesn't help with a Canadian school lunch today.
2Why did the class make their graph's axis start at 0?
So the graph is fair and doesn't exaggerate differences (as you learned with misleading graphs).
3How can you check whether a shocking image is real?
With a grown-up, check trusted news sites and use a reverse image search to find where it first appeared; look for clues like jumbled text.
4What does it mean to be an upstander online?
When someone else is targeted, you support them and tell an adult, instead of joining in or ignoring it.
5Why should the class ask permission before posting photos of students?
People have a right to privacy and to decide how their image is used; photos online can last and be copied.
Challenge
1Write a research question about winter at your school and name one primary and two secondary sources that would be both credible and relevant.
Example: How can we make the schoolyard safer when it's icy? Primary: a survey of students about where they've slipped. Secondary: the city's winter safety page and a public health or safety organization's page on preventing falls. (Look for sources that are credible and match the exact question.)
2A classmate says, It's on a lot of websites, so it must be true. Explain why this isn't enough, using the viral picture as an example.
Many sites can copy the same false content. The viral picture was shared thousands of times but had no source and signs of being edited or AI-made. You need credible sources that independently confirm it, not just popularity.
3Explain how evaluating sources, the design process and digital citizenship work together in the class's project.
Evaluating sources gave them accurate, relevant facts; the design process turned those facts into a solution they tested and improved; digital citizenship made sure they shared it safely and respectfully (permission, credit, privacy). All three are needed for a project that is true, useful and responsible.
Quiz
1. Which source is most relevant to How can OUR school reduce lunch waste?
2. Which is a clue an image may be AI-generated?
3. A Sponsored label means...
4. What should you do first if you get a mean comment online?
5. Your digital footprint is...
6. A source can be credible but still not useful if it is...
What this lesson teaches: Grade 6 students evaluate the quality of information and its relevance for a specific purpose (C3.3). They gather and evaluate information for validity, credibility, accuracy and perspectives (A2.3), explain their rights and responsibilities online (A2.1), protect privacy and personal data and support well-being (A2.2), use the design process with digital tools (A2.6), collaborate online respectfully with diverse communities (A2.7), and use transferable skills (A1.1).
How to help at home:
- Search for something together and rate two sources with the six questions.
- Talk about images that seem too shocking to be real, and check them together.
- Review privacy settings on any apps or games your child uses.
- Agree on a family plan for what to do if something upsetting happens online.
Common difficulties:
- Trusting popularity (millions of views) instead of credibility.
- Using credible but irrelevant sources. Ask: "Does this answer your exact question?"
- Forgetting permission before posting photos of others.
About the scenario: The class, the sources and the survey were made up for this lesson. Many Ontario municipalities run green bin programs for food scraps; check your own municipality's rules.
Safety: Supervise any online searching, and use school- or parent-approved tools for sharing.