Science 8- Evaluating Health Claims: Home

Throughout the years, many products have been touted for their immunity boosting properties. You may wish to investigate one of the following products:

• acidophilus
• vitamin C
• zinc
• oil of oregano
• spirulina
• cold fx
• Echinacea 
• magnesium
• elderberry
• bee pollen
• herbal teas- ex. sleepytime

How can we know if health claims are valid?

Students will examine a health product that claims to boost immunity and determine whether scientific evidence supports the claim as valid. Students will then review videos to find a video that makes valid scientific claims.

Students will:

• Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest
• Identify a question to answer or a problem to solve through scientific inquiry
• Collaboratively plan a range of investigation types, including field work and experiments, to answer their questions or solve problems they have identified
• Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence (qualitative and quantitative)
• Consider social, ethical, and environmental implications of the findings from their own and others’ investigations
• Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving

C - Credibility:

1. Can you find the author/sponsor of the information?  What are their credentials? Education? Experience? Affiliations? 
2. Can you find an "about us" or "contact us" link?  Does it give more than an email address?  That is, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information?

A - Accuracy:

1. Do there appear to be errors on the page (ie. spelling, grammar, facts)? These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information.
2. Do they cite the sources of their information?  

R - Reliability:

1. Is the source free from any sense of bias?
2. Is the information free of advertising or clearly separated from it?

D - Date:

1. Is it easy to find the copyright date?
2. Are there dates for when it was written?  When it was last revised?
3. If there are statistics, graphs and/or charts, is it clearly stated when the data was gathered?

S - Source:

1. Is the information based on primary or secondary sources? 
2. Are there links to other sources that would score high in this CARDS evaluation?