Believe it or not: classifying statements
Students examine the claims to truthfulness of statements of different kinds. The aim is to become
more critical of the use of language and to develop a constructive scepticism when assessing
primary and secondary information.
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
 distinguish between rhetorical
statements, subjective statements,
statements based on definition, and
statements based on observation

distinguish between primary and
secondary information

assess the reliability of secondary
information from different sources.
Time required
20 minutes plus discussion time. The 20 minutes
does not have to be during contact time.
Students should be provided with an opportunity
to discuss their reasoning for their classification
of the statements.
1 Use the Powerpoint slides to discuss the
‘Spectrum of truth’ and the background to the
activity, including the different types of
statements.
2 Issue the briefing sheet, which includes an
activity to classify statements. Discuss the
different categories into which the statements
can be placed.
5 Follow the activities with a discussion,
focussing on the reasoning that students apply to
their classifications.
Outline of the activity
This activity considers the nature of statements
and the grey area between fact and opinion.
Students are provided with a table of statements
that they categorise between ‘Not true’ and
‘Predictions from this statement are certain’.
Students should be able to recognise:
Rhetorical statements – a statement in the form
of a question formulated for effect rather than
the expectation of an answer.
Subjective statements – a statement, that is
based on a personal opinion.
Statements based on definition – A formal
statement based on the meaning of something.
Statements based on observation – A
description of what someone has seen.
Tips and strategies
The headings in the table will require some
discussion before the students complete the
activity.
You could ask the students ‘How would you
know if a statement is untrue?’ etc. for each
heading and get them to debate this for a
minute or two.
Different students are sure to have differing
views, and it is worth spending some time
on this to make sure that they give the
classification of each statement an
appropriate amount of thought.
Statement of persuasion – a statement designed
to influence peoples’ opinions.
Primary information and data – from direct
observations.
Secondary information and data – data and
reported observations from other people.
© 2008 Gatsby Technical Education Projects. This page may be copied solely for use in the purchaser’s school or college.
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Believe it or not: briefing sheet
Do you believe everything you ever hear? Do you understand everything you ever hear? Do you believe your
own eyes? To ensure that you are not fooled by things you read and hear, it helps to understand that there
are different kinds of statements.
Tick the columns as appropriate for statements in the table opposite. There are not always ‘right’
answers. Tick the columns that you think best fit the statement.
If you prefer, make your own ‘progressive’ table headings which allow you to make statements from
‘certain to be untrue’ to ‘certain to be true’. Find six statements to rank and discuss in your group.
Statement
Not
true
A statement
of persuasion
which cannot
be known to
be true or
untrue at the
time it is
made
A subjective
statement may be true
for some
people but
not for
others
Must be
true and
no
observation is
needed
Believed to be true
from observations
made by others
Believed to be true
from
observations made
by you
Expected outcome
of further
observation
Very
strongly
believed
Very
strongly
believed
Predictions
are
certain
Not so
strongly
believed
Not so
strongly
believed
Predictions
are not
certain
Light obeys a law of
reflection
The sun rises every
morning
All triangles have
three sides
The population of
the USA is about 300
000 000
I exist
Other people exist
A universe exists
The moons of Saturn
exist
The universe would
still exist if there
were no people to
observe it
Big Brother is a TV
show
Big Brother is a good
TV show
Titan (a moon of
Saturn) has
hydrocarbon clouds
© 2008 Gatsby Technical Education Projects. This page may be copied solely for use in the purchaser’s school or college.
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A stone released
from rest near the
Earth falls to the
surface
2+2=4
Elephants are
beautiful
Nuclear generation
of electricity
increases carbon
emissions
Nuclear generation
of electricity
decreases carbon
emissions
Neil Armstrong was
the first man on the
Moon
The Moon landings
were staged in an
elaborate movie
studio on Earth
The solar system is
about four-and-a-half
billion years old
The solar system was
created about 4000
years ago
The new Peugault
27XLi will give you
the drive of your life
Oxycare skin cream
gets rid of spots
Gravitational field
strength at the
surface of the Earth
is 9.8 N kg-1
The pressure exerted
by a gas doubles
when its
temperature in
Kelvin is doubled
When we win the
election we will cut
taxes
© 2008 Gatsby Technical Education Projects. This page may be copied solely for use in the purchaser’s school or college.
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