Get the students thinking: Birds aren’t real!

• Have students watch Awakening the Blind at Walmart (also embedded below)
• Ask the class what’s going on in the video. Guide them to recognize how the conspiracy theorists twist evidence to support their narrative.

Exploring the techniques of conspiracy theories

Have students watch the video and complete the worksheet.

Conspiracy Theory Video Guided Questions [Google Doc]

Option: Ask students about conspiracy theories they encounter in everyday life (e.g., news, online, advertising, etc.). Are they convincing? Why or why not?

Conspiracy Theory Activity: Wake Up, Sheeple! [Google Doc]

• Have students create their very own conspiracy theory. Encourage them to let their imagination run wild and be as silly as possible, while keeping in mind they will need to convince others of their narrative.
• Either independently or in small groups, allow students time to craft their conspiracy. Encourage creativity and humor. 
• Make sure they include the following:
  • Who are the conspirators?: Every conspiracy needs a powerful person or group of people behind it. Are they in the government? Industry? Famous celebrities? Cats? Aliens?!?!
  • What did they do?: They’re up to no good, of course. But what specific events or chain of events did they cause?
  • Why did they do it?: Their motivations are obviously evil. Is it power? Money? Control? World domination?
  • What is the reasoning?: Why do they believe in the conspiracy, and why should others? Construct a convincing narrative and make the conspiracy “believable”.
    • Option: Students can do their “own research” and find evidence to support their conspiracy. Conspiracy theorists don’t limit themselves to reliable sources, so students don’t need to either. That’s for sheeple. 
    • Option: Online tools like 666 Generator and Inge’s Anagram Generator can help students find silly patterns.
• Option: If you’re short on time, consider using a chatbot such as Chat GPT for ideas, but be sure to specify that the conspiracy should be fun and/or satirical. 

• This is where students really experience how conspiratorial thinking works. Conspiracy theories are immune to evidence (i.e., all evidence is interpreted to support the conspiracy), so the goal is to make excuses, twist and cherry pick evidence, move the goalposts, etc. to protect their narrative from disproof. 
• Put student groups together to share their conspiracies. One group should try to “wake up” their classmates by convincing them of the truth of their conspiratorial narrative. The other group attempts to disprove the conspiracy by pointing out flaws in the evidence or reasoning. But the conspiracy theorists know “the truth”, so students should do whatever they need to do to avoid changing their minds!
• When the class is ready to move on, switch roles so that all groups pretend to be conspiracy theorists. 
• Optional classroom activity: Have a group share their conspiracy to the class. Assign other students to either defend or disprove the conspiracy. 

• Highlight some of the most common techniques used in conspiracy theories. 
• Discuss the importance of being able to recognize these techniques in the real world, and the potential consequences of being persuaded by them.
• Conspiracy theorists often think of themselves as the real critical thinkers, unlike the sheeple who don’t question official sources. Ask students to compare critical thinking and conspiratorial thinking. Which of the two is more likely to uncover real conspiracies, and why?

• Analyze current conspiracy theories, by identifying the characteristics of the conspiracies as well as their techniques.
• Additional Useful Resource: Conspiracy Theory Handbook by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook