This game, popular with students, invites participants to invent their own science misinformation news stories. Based on "Bluff the Listener" from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, student teams find an incredible science news story (real) and then fabricate two more fake stories based on the same theme. They present all three to the class, who tries to guess (along with the teacher!) which is the authentic story. Afterwards, students review the persuasive techniques they used, and which seemed most effective in fooling the class. Together, they identify a set of deceptive tactics that the purveyors of disinformation themselves typically exploit. Students who recognize them at work in the media are better able to counteract their influence.

The presentation includes 2 examples (from students in Brazil), with the corresponding texts available below (just for demonstrations purposes). There are also several cases of incredible stories, as inspiration. Half the fun is finding the weird stories!

A possible follow-up lesson, emphasizing the supplemental role of experts and cherry-picked evidence, is The Plausibility Trap. Another related activity is learning the basic skills of "Fact-Checking 101."

Download   PPT  ||  PDF  ||  Student samples

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Background Reading

Allchin, D. 2024. Science L.I.A.R.S.: A game to combat misinformation. The Science Teacher.

Further Reading

Allchin, D. 2012. Science con-artists. American Biology Teacher

Union of Concerned Scientists. 2022. The disinformation playbook.