🔍 Phase 3 — Investigation 🃏 Interactive ⏱ 7 minutes

Task 5 — Fact, Opinion or Propaganda?

The most important critical literacy skill in civic life. Not everything said about a civic issue is equal — learn to tell the difference before someone manipulates your thinking.

Introduction — 3 steps before the activity

The three categories

Propaganda vs Opinion

Practice first

✅

FACT

"You can look it up and check it."

A statement that can be verified — confirmed or disproved — using evidence, data or a reliable source.

Example

"The school has 450 students enrolled this year." You can check the official register.

💬

OPINION

"Someone's honest view — valid, but not provable."

A personal perspective or judgement. Not right or wrong — but cannot be verified with data. Usually signalled by "we believe", "in our view", "we think".

Example

"We believe smaller classes produce better learning." This is a view — not a proven fact.

⚠️

PROPAGANDA

"Designed to scare or manipulate — not inform."

Designed to provoke a strong emotional reaction — using exaggeration, fear or false claims — rather than to give accurate information.

Example

"Anyone who supports longer school days hates children." Not a fact or opinion — an attack designed to make you angry.

Step 1 of 3

An opinion shares a point of view — even a strong one — while still being honest and respectful. Propaganda exaggerates, attacks people personally, uses absolute words like "always", "never", "destroys", "hates" — and is designed to bypass thinking, not inform it.

💬 Opinion — honest and respectful

✓Shares a personal view

✓Uses signals like "we believe", "in our view"

✓Can be disagreed with — but doesn't attack

✓Respects the reader's right to think independently

"We believe community wellbeing should come before budget savings."

⚠️ Propaganda — designed to manipulate

✗Uses absolute words: "always", "never", "destroys", "hates"

✗Attacks people instead of addressing the argument

✗Designed to make you feel, not think

✗Exaggerates — claims more than evidence supports

"Anyone who supports the closure hates young people."

🧪 Quick test to use during the activity:

"Is this trying to give me information — or trying to control how I feel? If it is the second one, it is probably propaganda."

Step 2 of 3

One neutral practice statement — before the real activity:

"This school has been open for 30 years."

What is this — FACT, OPINION or PROPAGANDA?

✅

Correct — FACT. "This school has been open for 30 years" can be verified: check the school's founding records or official documents. It is a statement of fact — not a view, and not designed to manipulate.

❌

Not quite — it's a FACT. "This school has been open for 30 years" can be verified by checking official records. It makes no personal judgement, does not exaggerate, and is not designed to manipulate — it is simply a checkable statement.

Step 3 of 3 Answer the practice to continue

Sort the 6 civic statements

🃏

For each statement: read it carefully, then tap FACT, OPINION or PROPAGANDA. Use the quick test from Step 2: "Is this trying to inform me — or control how I feel?" Instant feedback after each answer.

Progress:

0 / 6

Your results

—

out of 6 · Fact / Opinion / Propaganda

📋 Formative only — not graded · Saved to teacher dashboard

Answer review

← Task 4 Continue to Task 6 →

What happens in Task 5

A 3-step intro stepper (category definitions → propaganda vs opinion comparison → practice statement) before the sorting activity unlocks. 6 civic statements from the Youth Centre dilemma are shown one by one with FACT / OPINION / PROPAGANDA tap buttons. On each answer: instant animated feedback with a one-sentence explanation. After all 6: a score card reveals, a full answer review summary shows each statement's verdict, and a reflection field appears. Saving the reflection completes the task.

🃏 The 6 civic statements

1. "The youth centre serves 200 young people every week." → FACT

2. "Closing it will destroy this community forever." → PROPAGANDA

3. "In our view, community wellbeing should come before budget savings." → OPINION

4. "The council has a legal obligation to present a balanced budget." → FACT

5. "Anyone who supports the closure hates young people." → PROPAGANDA

6. "We believe this decision was made without adequate public consultation." → OPINION

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