True or False Images? - Ella’s Source Criticism Adventure

“HAVE YOU SEEN!? THERE’S A UNICORN IN THE CITY PARK!”

It was with these words that Viktor came rushing into the classroom on a Monday morning, sweaty and red-faced with excitement. He held up his mobile phone showing a picture of what actually looked like a white horse with a golden horn on its forehead, grazing peacefully by the pond in the city park that everyone recognized.

“Wow!” exclaimed several of the children and crowded around Viktor to see the picture.

“It must be a circus that has come to town,” said Sofia.

“Or it escaped from a secret research facility,” suggested Johan with wide eyes.

Ella also looked at the picture, but something felt strange. She had been in the city park with her mother yesterday, and there was absolutely no unicorn there.

“Where did you find this picture, Viktor?” asked Ella.

“My big brother sent it to me. He said everyone is talking about it online!”

Just then, Teacher Lisa came into the classroom and noticed the commotion.

“What’s happening here?” she asked with a smile.

“There’s a unicorn in the city park, Teacher!” several children shouted in unison.

Teacher Lisa raised her eyebrows and peeked at the picture when Viktor proudly held it up.

“Hmm, it really does look like a unicorn,” she said thoughtfully. “But you know what? I think this is a perfect opportunity for us to talk about something very important – source criticism and how to determine what’s true and false on the internet.”

“But it’s a picture,” protested Viktor. “Pictures don’t lie!”

Teacher Lisa smiled kindly. “Not so long ago, that was true, Viktor. But in today’s world, pictures can actually deceive. It’s sometimes called ‘deep fakes’ or manipulated images.”

“What does that mean?” asked Li.

Teacher Lisa took out her tablet. “Let me show you something.”

She opened an app and took a quick picture of herself. Then she pressed some buttons, and suddenly she showed the same picture, but now with purple hair and glasses.

“Wow!” exclaimed the children. “How did you do that?”

“There are apps and programs that can change pictures in just seconds,” explained Teacher Lisa. “In this case, it was obvious that the picture was altered, because you all know that I have brown hair and don’t wear glasses. But sometimes the changes are so skillfully done that they are hard to detect.”

“Like the unicorn picture?” asked Ella.

“Probably,” nodded Teacher Lisa. “But let’s be detectives and investigate the matter properly. Because that’s how you work with source criticism – like detectives looking for clues.”

Teacher Lisa wrote four questions on the board:

1. WHO made the image/text/video?
2. WHY did someone make it?
3. WHEN was it made?
4. HOW does it align with what we already know?

“So, let’s start as detectives,” said Teacher Lisa. “Who made the unicorn picture?”

Viktor looked thoughtful. “My brother just said that people are sharing it online…”

“So we actually don’t know who created it,” said Teacher Lisa. “That’s our first clue to be careful.”

“But my brother wouldn’t trick me,” protested Viktor.

“Maybe not intentionally,” said Teacher Lisa kindly. “But if he himself believed the picture was real, and sent it to you because he trusted it, then he has also been fooled.”

“Like a chain of people deceiving each other without meaning to?” asked Sofia.

“Exactly! Next question: Why would someone create a fake picture of a unicorn in our city park?”

“Because it’s fun?” suggested Johan.

“To get attention!” said Li.

“Maybe to get people to visit the park?” pondered Ella.

“All of these are possible reasons,” nodded Teacher Lisa. “And the third question: When was the picture created? Viktor, is there a date on the picture?”

Viktor shook his head.

“And the final question: How does it align with what we already know? Ella, you said you were in the park yesterday?”

“Yes, and there was definitely no unicorn there then,” confirmed Ella.

“And what do we know about unicorns in general?” asked Teacher Lisa.

The children looked at each other.

“They… don’t actually exist?” said Sofia at last, a bit disappointed.

“They are mythical creatures,” nodded Teacher Lisa. “So logically, it’s very unlikely that one would show up in our city park.”

“So you’re saying the picture is fake?” asked Viktor, who looked disappointed.

“Let’s find out together,” suggested Teacher Lisa. “May I see the picture again?”

She took Viktor’s phone and examined the picture carefully, zooming in on certain parts.

“Look here,” she said and showed the children. “Do you see how the shadows from the unicorn fall in a different direction than the shadows from the trees? That’s a common miss when someone edits pictures together. And here, at the horn, can you see a small blurry edge? That suggests the horn was added afterward.”

The children looked on with big eyes.

“It’s almost like magic, but in a bad way,” mumbled Viktor.

“It’s sometimes called ‘deep fakes’ when advanced technology is used to create or alter images and videos to make them look real,” explained Teacher Lisa. “Just a few years ago, this was very difficult to do, but now there are apps that make it easy for anyone.”

“But how will we know what’s true then?” asked Li worriedly.

“That’s why source criticism is so important,” said Teacher Lisa. “Being source critical means not believing everything you see or hear right away, but investigating first, just like we did now.”

“Like a detective superpower!” exclaimed Ella, adjusting her imaginary IT security cape.

“Exactly,” smiled Teacher Lisa. “And the best part is that everyone can learn this superpower.”

She wrote some points on the board:

• Always check multiple sources! If there really was a unicorn in the park, the local news would probably report on it.
• Be extra careful with sensational news that seems too good (or scary) to be true.
• Look for oddities in images: blurry edges, strange shadows, odd proportions.
• Ask an adult if you’re unsure!
• Consider: Who benefits from spreading this information?

“But isn’t the internet just a bunch of lies then?” asked Johan dejectedly.

“No, not at all,” replied Teacher Lisa. “The internet is also full of wonderful, true information! It’s just about learning to distinguish between what’s true and false – just like we’re doing now.”

Ella raised her hand. “But if someone really wanted to make us believe there was a unicorn in the park, couldn’t they make a much better fake than this?”

Teacher Lisa nodded seriously. “That’s right, Ella. There are very advanced deep fakes out there that are almost impossible to expose with the naked eye. That’s why it’s so important to use all of our source criticism tools, not just look for oddities in the image.”

For the rest of the day, the class worked on a source criticism project. They were divided into groups and tasked with creating both true and false news, and then letting the other groups figure out which were which.

Ella’s group made a false news story about the school cafeteria starting to serve ice cream for lunch every day, complete with a manipulated image where they had added a large ice cream mountain to today’s lunch menu.

“This one is too easy,” laughed Teacher Lisa when she saw it. “No one would believe that!”

But to their surprise, several children from the other groups actually believed the news, especially the younger children from preschool whom they showed it to.

In the afternoon, Teacher Lisa gathered all the children again and asked what they had learned.

“That you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet,” said Viktor, who now seemed to have accepted that the unicorn was fake.

“To check multiple different sources,” said Sofia.

“To be extra careful with news that sounds too good to be true, like getting ice cream for lunch every day,” said Johan with a laugh.

“And that deep fakes and manipulated images are becoming more common and harder to detect,” said Ella thoughtfully. “But if we use our source criticism superpowers, we can get better at not being fooled.”

Teacher Lisa smiled proudly. “You have all learned something very important today. In a world where it’s becoming easier to create false information, it’s our job to become better at being critical and thinking detectives.”

On the way home from school that day, Ella eagerly told her mother about the day’s lesson.

“So now I’m not just an IT security hero and a privacy protector, mom. Now I’m a source-critical detective too!”

Her mother smiled. “That sounds like a very important role, Ella.”

“It is!” said Ella determinedly. “Just think if everyone was a bit more source-critical – then it would be much harder for people to fool each other with fake news and fake images.”

When they got home and Ella checked her own social media account for children, she saw that the unicorn image had started to spread there too. Without hesitation, she wrote a comment: “NOTE! This is a fake image. Look at the shadows and the blurry edge at the horn. Use your source criticism superpowers! 🕵️‍♀️🔍”

Maybe not everyone would believe her, thought Ella. But if even a few children paused and thought an extra time before sharing it further, then her source-critical superhero mission had already started to make a difference in the world.