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Learners A.4.3
Learners act on an information need by:
3. Making critical choices about information sources to use.

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Using Credible and Reliable Sources to Conduct Research

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Using Credible and Reliable Sources to Conduct Research

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Fifth Grade

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Use this poster to help you determine if a source is reliable.

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Use this checklist after watching the CRAAP Test video to evaluate your sources.

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Watch this Brain POP video about Online Sources.

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Watch this video to learn how to tell if a source is reliable or not.

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How to Know If a Source Is Reliable by Shmoop

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Watch this video to learn about the CRAAP Test when evaluating sources.

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Watch this video to see how to find where an image oriented.

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How to Use Google Reverse Image Search to Fact Check Images

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Use this infographic for evaluating news articles.

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Most Reliable and Credible Sources for Students

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Most Reliable and Credible Sources for Students

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Start with these websites when conducting research.

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Quick, safe spots for students

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Quick, safe spots to send your students for research:

1. All-around research site libraryspot.com

2. Dictionary www.dictionary.com

3. Edutainment site-requires subscription www.brainpop.com/

4. General info research www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

5. History Channel-great speeches at http://www.history.com/speeches

6. Internet research sites for kids http://ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html

7. Kids search engine for the internet kids.yahoo.com

8. Math, reading, arcade edutainment www.funbrain.com

9. National Geographic for kids kids.nationalgeographic.com/

10. Nova video programs www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova

11. Research for kids www.factmonster.com/

12. Research-chapters on subjects http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/

13. Research-history http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

14. School Tube-learning videos from YouTube. Organized by topics http://sqooltube.com/

15. Thesaurus-a great one www.thesaurus.com

16. World Book Online (subscription required) www.worldbookonline.com/kids

More
5 Lesson Plans to teach researching in the classroom Use Unconventional Research Sites to Inspire Students How do I teach Inquiry and Research in Middle School
updated 2-1-18

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Quick, safe spots to send your students for research: All-around research site libraryspot.com Dictionary www.dictionary.com Edutainment site-requires subscription www.brainpop.com/ General info research www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html History Channel-great speeches at http://www.history.com/speeches Internet research sites for kids http://ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html Kids search engine for the internet kids.yahoo.com Math, reading, arcade edutainment www.funbrain.com National Geographic for kids kids.nationalgeographic.com/ Nova video programs www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova Research for kids www.factmonster.com/ Research-chapters on subjects http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/ Research-history http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html School Tube-learning videos from YouTube.

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Investigate 3 to 5 of the fake sites that are on this list. Use the other tools on the padlet to evaluate the sites.

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While the idea of " " was born out of the very real instances of fake news stories helping sway the election in favor of now-President Donald Trump , it has since been co-opted by Trump's administration to be used as a weapon to sow doubt in legitimate media stories that they find unappealing.

But real fake news-not the kind Trump likes to point out on virtually every day-is pervasive. And if you care about reading truthful stories, you need to be on high alert.

, a primary driver of traffic to publications, came under fire late last year for allowing the promotion of fake news sites that deal in conspiracy theories rather than facts. Some Facebook employees even reportedly revolted and took matters into their own hands before the company took steps to reduce fake news .

Both Facebook and have responded by cutting these sites out of their advertising networks and otherwise making their stories harder to find. And PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site, has launched a new section devoted to fake news .
READ MORE:

But fake news sites are still out there, and someone on your Facebook friend's list is probably sharing one of their stories right now. If you want to check out whether a story is from a dubious source yourself, you can use one of these three Google Chrome plugins to check.

Late last year, Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, compiled a list of "fake, false, or regularly misleading websites" that purposefully publish fake information or are otherwise entirely unreliable. The list, which was temporarily removed due to threats and harassment Zimdars says she received, also included sites that "may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information" or "sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions."

Of course, "real news" media outlets and journalists sometimes make mistakes, including us at the Daily Dot. And when we do, we issue corrections and take responsibility for those mistakes. Fake news sites make no such efforts toward accuracy and often invent entirely fictional stories, which is what puts them in a different category. Further, some fake news sites-particularly government-controlled media outlets-mostly publish factual news but mix in some fake stories for propaganda purposes.

Below, we've compiled a list of 176 sites that Zimdars and the other researchers who created the list rank as straight-up "fake news." The full list, which is hundreds of sites long, also includes "clickbait" sites, publications with heavy bias, satire, publications that promote "hate," "conspiracy," or "junk science, "and those that specialize in rumors or unreliable information. To see the full list, .

Next time you see a headline that just feels off, come back here and check if it's from one of these popular fake news websites.

Fake news sites

1. 70news.wordpress.com

2. 82.221.129.208

3. Abcnews.com.co

4. Alternativemediasyndicate.com

5. Americannews.com

6. Americanoverlook.com

7. Americanreviewer.com

8. Bighairynews.com

9. Bostonleader.com

10. Cap-news.com

11. Cbsnews.com.co

12. Channel-7-news.com

13. Cityworldnews.com

14. Civictribune.com

15. Clashdaily.com

16. Conservativebyte.com

17. Conservativedailypost.com

18. Conservativefighters.com

19. Conservativeinfidel.com

20. Dailybuzzlive.com

21. Dailyheadlines.com

22. Dailyheadlines.net

23. Dcgazette.com

24. DeadlyClear.wordpress.com

25. Denverguardian.com

26. Departed.co

27. Donaldtrumpnews.co

28. Drudgereport.com.co

29. Enabon.com

30. Enduringvision.com

31. FarmWars.info

32. Freedomdaily.com

33. Goneleft.com

34. Gopthedailydose.com

35. healthycareandbeauty.com

36. Healthyworldhouse.com

37. Immediatesafety.org

38. Infostormer.com

49. Interestingdailynews.com

40. Intrendtoday.com

41. Investmentwatchblog.com

42. Itaglive.com

43. ItMakesSenseBlog.com

44. Iwanttoexplore.com

45. Jewsnews.co.il

46. Konkonsagh.biz

47. Krbcnews.com

48. Ky12news.com

49. Ladylibertynews.com

50. Lastdeplorables.com

51. Learnprogress.org

52. Liberalplug.com

53. Libertyalliance.com

54. Local31news.com

55. Madworldnews.com

56. Maganews.co

57. Majorthoughts.com

58. Mediamass.net

59. Megynkelly.us

60. Mentor2day.com

61. Metropolitanworlds.com

62. Mpidailymagazine.com

63. Myfreshnews.com

64. Myzonetoday.com

65. Yourfunpage.com

66. Natives-today.com

67. Nbc.com.co

68. nephef.com

69. newpoliticstoday.com

70. news4ktla.com

71. newsbbc.net

72. newsbreakshere.com

73. newsbysquad.com

74. newsdaily12.com

75. newsfrompolitics.com

76. newsleak.co

77. newslo.com

78. newsmagazine.com

79. newswatch28.com

80. newswatch33.com

81. notallowedto.com

82. now8news.com

83. onepoliticalplaza.com

84. openmagazines.com

85. pakalertpress.com

86. pamelageller.com

87. politicalo.com

88. politicalsitenews.com

89. politicono.com

90. politicsusanews.com

91. president45donaldtrump.com

92. prntly.com

93. proamericanews.com

94. react365.com

95. readconservatives.news

96. reagancoalition.com

97. realnewsrightnow.com

98. redcountry.us

99. redrocktribune.com

100. religionmind.com

101. rogue-nation3.com

102. rumorjournal.com

103. socialeverythings.com

104. sputniknews.com

105. stormcloudsgathering.com

106. success-street.com

107. TDTalliance.com

108. teaparty.org

109. the-insider.co

110. thebigriddle.com

111. thecontroversialfiles.net

112. thefreepatriot.org

113. theinternetpost.net

114. themoralofthestory.us

115. thenet24h.com

116. thenewyorkevening.com

117. theracketreport.com

118. thereporterz.com

119. thetrumpmedia.com

120. theusa-news.com

121. thewashingtonpress.com

122. threepercenternation.com

123. times.com.mx

124. tmzworldnews.com

125. trueamericans.me

126. truetrumpers.com

127. trumpvision365.com

128. undergroundnewsreport.com

129. undergroundworldnews.com

130. unitedmediapublishing.com

131. universepolitics.com

132. usa-radio.com

133. usa-television.com

134. usa2016elections.com

135. usadailyinfo.com

136. usadailypolitics.com

137. usadailytime.com

138. usadosenews.com

139. usafirstinformation.com

140. usainfobox.com

141. usamagazinestudio.com

142. usanewsinsider.com

143. usanewspolitics.com

144. usanewstoday.com

145. usaphase.com

146. usapolitics24hrs.com

147. usapoliticsnow.com

148. usapoliticszone.com

149. usasnich.com

150. usasupreme.com

151. usatoday.com.co

152. usatodaynews.me

153. usatwentyfour.com

154. USAWatchdog.com

155. usconservativetoday.com

156. ushealthyadvisor.com

157. ushealthylife.com

158. usherald.com

159. usinfonews.com

160. uspoln.com

161. uspostman.com

162. usviewer.com

163. vigilantcitizen.com

164. viralactions.com

165. viralliberty.com

166. voxtribune.com

167. washingtonfed.com

168. washingtonpost.com.co

169. webdaily.com

170. weeklyworldnews.com

171. worldpoliticsnow.com

172. worldpoliticsus.com

173. worldrumor.com

174. worldstoriestoday.com

175. yesimright.com
Editor's note: This story is regularly updated with new information. Websites that no longer fit the criteria of "fake news" will be removed. If you notice a site on the list is no longer active or no longer qualifies, please email us at [email protected] or tweet at us at @DotLayer8.

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The definitive list of 176 fake news sites on Facebook

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While the idea of " " was born out of the very real instances of fake news stories helping sway the election in favor of now-President Donald Trump , it has since been co-opted by Trump's administration to be used as a weapon to sow doubt in legitimate media stories that they find unappealing.

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Do some research and use the CRAAP Test to evaluate whether this website is real or a hoax?

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Help Save The ENDANGERED

From EXTINCTION!

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Rare photo of the elusive tree octopus
(Enhanced from cropped telephoto)

The Pacific Northwest tree octopus ( Octopus paxarbolis) can be found in the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America. Their habitat lies on the Eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. These solitary cephalopods reach an average size (measured from arm-tip to mantle-tip,) of 30-33 cm. Unlike most other cephalopods, tree octopuses are amphibious, spending only their early life and the period of their mating season in their ancestral aquatic environment. Because of the moistness of the rainforests and specialized skin adaptations, they are able to keep from becoming desiccated for prolonged periods of time, but given the chance they would prefer resting in pooled water.

An intelligent and inquisitive being (it has the largest brain-to-body ratio for any mollusk), the tree octopus explores its arboreal world by both touch and sight. Adaptations its ancestors originally evolved in the three dimensional environment of the sea have been put to good use in the spatially complex maze of the coniferous Olympic rainforests. The challenges and richness of this environment (and the intimate way in which it interacts with it,) may account for the tree octopus's advanced behavioral development. (Some evolutionary theorists suppose that "arboreal adaptation" is what laid the groundwork in primates for the evolution of the human mind.)

Reaching out with one of her eight arms, each covered in sensitive suckers, a tree octopus might grab a branch to pull herself along in a form of locomotion called tentaculation; or she might be preparing to strike at an insect or small vertebrate, such as a frog or rodent, or steal an egg from a bird's nest; or she might even be examining some object that caught her fancy, instinctively desiring to manipulate it with her dexterous limbs (really deserving the title "sensory organs" more than mere "limbs",) in order to better know it.

Map of estimated tree octopus maximum range, including spawning waters

Tree octopuses have eyesight comparable to humans. Besides allowing them to see their prey and environment, it helps them in inter-octopus relations. Although they are not social animals like us, they display to one-another their emotions through their ability to change the color of their skin: red indicates anger, white fear, while they normally maintain a mottled brown tone to blend in with the background.

The reproductive cycle of the tree octopus is still linked to its roots in the waters of the Puget Sound from where it is thought to have originated. Every year, in Spring, tree octopuses leave their homes in the Olympic National Forest and migrate towards the shore and, eventually, their spawning grounds in Hood Canal. There, they congregate (the only real social time in their lives,) and find mates. After the male has deposited his sperm, he returns to the forests, leaving the female to find an aquatic lair in which to attach her strands of egg-clusters. The female will guard and care for her eggs until they hatch, refusing even to eat, and usually dying from her selflessness. The young will spend the first month or so floating through Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet, and as far as North Puget Sound before eventually moving out of the water and beginning their adult lives.

Why It's Endangered

Route 101, separating the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula from Hood Canal

Although the tree octopus is not officially listed on the Endangered Species List, we feel that it should be added since its numbers are at a critically low level for its breeding needs. The reasons for this dire situation include: decimation of habitat by logging and suburban encroachment; building of roads that cut off access to the water which it needs for spawning; predation by foreign species such as house cats; and booming populations of its natural predators, including the bald eagle and sasquatch. What few that make it to the Canal are further hampered in their reproduction by the growing problem of pollution from farming and residential run-off. Unless immediate action is taken to protect this species and its habitat, the Pacific Northwest tree octopus will be but a memory.

The possibility of Pacific Northwest tree octopus extinction is not an unwarranted fear. Other tree octopus species-including the Douglas octopus and the red-ringed madrona sucker-were once abundant throughout the Cascadia region, but have since gone extinct because of threats similar to those faced by paxarbolis, as well as overharvesting by the now-illegal tree octopus trade.

Tree Octopus hat from 1923

The history of the tree octopus trade is a sad one. Their voracious appetite for bird plumes having exhausted all the worthy species of that family, the fashionistas moved on to cephalopodic accoutrements during the early 20th Century. Tree octopuses became prized by the fashion industry as ornamental decorations for hats, leading greedy trappers to wipe out whole populations to feed the vanity of the fashionable rich. While fortunately this practice has been outlawed, its effects still reverberate today as these millinery deprivations brought tree octopus numbers below the critical point where even minor environmental change could cause disaster.

While efforts were made in the past to preserve remaining tree octopus habitat, these were met with resistance by the timber industry, which has traditionally viewed the tree octopus as a nuisance, both because the octopuses favor the valuable, moss-shrouded trees of old growth forests-pitting conservation needs against lucrative sources of lumber-and because octopuses hiding among felled trees often gummed up sawmills and stained pulp vats with their ink.

Traveling sideshow exhibits, such as this one by Glen "Bones" Hartzell from 1942, demonized tree octopuses to the ignorant masses
(Click to enlarge)

These nuisances led many loggers to regard tree octopuses as bad luck, resulting in the pointless killing of octopuses on sight at logging camps in a misguided attempt at eradicating the troublesome species. Anti-octopus sentiment was so strong among loggers that some even began to fear that the octopuses were prone to attacking humans.

These fears were fueled in no small part by gratuitous stories involving tree octopuses harassing lumberjacks and distressing damsels in Northwestern-themed pulp magazines of the 1930-40s and variously "nipping", "entangling", or "suckering the flesh" of the heroes of men's action magazines of the 1950-60s. (The magazine publishers depended on cheap paper made from wood pulp and were glad to contribute to the anti-octopus propaganda campaign of the timber industry.)

To this day, misunderstanding and fear of these gentle creatures can still be found among many old timers, although education campaigns-and special octopus-separators installed at sawmills-have largely halted the practice of tree octopus eradication.

How You Can Help

More Tree Octopus Information

Posters motivate the citizenry to action! Post them!

Tree Octopus FAQs - Frequently asked questions, now with answers.

Tree Octopus Sightings - Includes photos of and behavioral research on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and other tree octopus species.

Tree Octopus In The Media - appearances of tree octopuses, both real and fictional, in the media and popular culture.

Research On Other Tree Octopus Species:

The author of this article and its subsections is Lyle Zapato.
This site is not associated with any school or educational organization,
other than the Kelvinic University branch of the Wild Haggis Conservation Society.
Not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest Octopus Tree.

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Information about the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and what you can do to save it.

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How do I know if my resource for research is credible and reliable?

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Watch a video of Mrs. Senerchia discussing why credible and reliable sources for research are essential.