{"id":348,"date":"2025-02-07T21:05:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T21:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/chapter\/arguments-2\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T15:33:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:33:22","slug":"arguments-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/chapter\/arguments-2\/","title":{"raw":"Arguments","rendered":"Arguments"},"content":{"raw":"Have students access the student chapter <a href=\"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discovering\/chapter\/arguments\/\">Arguments<\/a> and go through the first section (up to the \"Building Arguments\" boxed text) with the class.\r\n\r\nRemind students how to remember the difference between facts and opinions from the <a href=\"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/chapter\/facts-versus-opinions\/\">Facts Versus Opinions<\/a> chapter:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>If the question is \u201c<strong>What do you think<\/strong>?\u201d, the answer is an <strong>opinion<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If the question is \u201c<strong>How do you know<\/strong>?\u201d, the answer is a <strong>fact.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWe can use this to test whether our opinions are supported by facts.\r\n\r\nNext go through the boxed text.\r\n\r\nHave students work in pairs or small groups to sort the facts listed into ones that support the opinion \u201cGoing to the moon was humanity\u2019s greatest achievement,\u201d ones that support the opinion \u201cGoing to the moon\r\nwas a waste of money,\u201d and ones that do not support either opinion.\r\n\r\nThe final list should look like this:\r\n\r\n<strong>Going to the moon was humanity\u2019s greatest achievement:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Photos of the Earth, taken from the moon, made many people more aware how fragile the Earth\u2019s environment is.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Many technologies we use today were developed as part of the space program.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>400,000 people were involved in the space program and the moon landing.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>People have been imagining trips to the moon since at least the 2nd Century CE.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>Going to the moon was a waste of money:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The first moon landing cost about two and a half billion dollars.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Chemicals in the rockets that sent astronauts to the moon contributed to climate change.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Spending time in space is bad for astronauts. It weakens their bones and increases the risks of several diseases.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>Does not support either opinion:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The moon\u2019s gravity is one-sixth as strong as the Earth\u2019s.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNow ask students: Which of these facts provide the strongest or most convincing argument for each opinion? How can we tell?\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>There is no right or best answer; the point is to get students thinking about how facts may be stronger or weaker supports for an argument.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"<p>Have students access the student chapter <a href=\"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discovering\/chapter\/arguments\/\">Arguments<\/a> and go through the first section (up to the &#8220;Building Arguments&#8221; boxed text) with the class.<\/p>\n<p>Remind students how to remember the difference between facts and opinions from the <a href=\"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/chapter\/facts-versus-opinions\/\">Facts Versus Opinions<\/a> chapter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the question is \u201c<strong>What do you think<\/strong>?\u201d, the answer is an <strong>opinion<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>If the question is \u201c<strong>How do you know<\/strong>?\u201d, the answer is a <strong>fact.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We can use this to test whether our opinions are supported by facts.<\/p>\n<p>Next go through the boxed text.<\/p>\n<p>Have students work in pairs or small groups to sort the facts listed into ones that support the opinion \u201cGoing to the moon was humanity\u2019s greatest achievement,\u201d ones that support the opinion \u201cGoing to the moon<br \/>\nwas a waste of money,\u201d and ones that do not support either opinion.<\/p>\n<p>The final list should look like this:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Going to the moon was humanity\u2019s greatest achievement:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Photos of the Earth, taken from the moon, made many people more aware how fragile the Earth\u2019s environment is.<\/li>\n<li>Many technologies we use today were developed as part of the space program.<\/li>\n<li>400,000 people were involved in the space program and the moon landing.<\/li>\n<li>People have been imagining trips to the moon since at least the 2nd Century CE.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Going to the moon was a waste of money:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The first moon landing cost about two and a half billion dollars.<\/li>\n<li>Chemicals in the rockets that sent astronauts to the moon contributed to climate change.<\/li>\n<li>Spending time in space is bad for astronauts. It weakens their bones and increases the risks of several diseases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Does not support either opinion:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The moon\u2019s gravity is one-sixth as strong as the Earth\u2019s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now ask students: Which of these facts provide the strongest or most convincing argument for each opinion? How can we tell?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no right or best answer; the point is to get students thinking about how facts may be stronger or weaker supports for an argument.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-348","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":345,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1394,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/348\/revisions\/1394"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/345"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/348\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/discoveringstudent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}