Lower Moreland High School Science Teacher Battling Fake News in the Classroom

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Patrick Engleman, Lower Moreland High School science teacher, is battling fake news in the classroom by sharpening his students’ critical thinking skills. (Image via Philadelphia Public Schools thenotebook.org)

Lower Moreland High School chemistry teacher, Patrick Engleman, is battling fake news in the classroom by sharpening his students’ critical thinking skills, writes Ashley Hoffman for Inquisitr.

Engleman uses a trick to help students see how easy it is to believe fake news. He introduces his class to “dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO)” a substance he says is involved in 80 percent of fatal car crashes and can be found in every single cancer cell. What he does not tell them though, is that DHMO is actually water.

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The “dihydrogen monoxide hoax” refers to water by its unfamiliar chemical name and lists several of its effects on different things in an alarming manner. After the presentation, the class is asked to decide whether DHMO should be labeled as hazardous, banned, or regulated.

According to Engleman, several of his classes decided to ban the substance based only on the information he provided.

The goal is to show students that they cannot trust everything they read or hear. He believes this is especially important today, as there is much more information to sift through than there ever was in the past.

Read more about Engleman’s lesson at Inquisitr by clicking here.

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