Choose a claim you can actually check
Start with a simple, low-stakes question about a science topic, a place, or a historical event. Avoid medical, legal, or personal advice for this exercise. An adult should prepare any AI-generated material and check its suitability before sharing it with a child.
Underline the exact factual claim. ‘This is an amazing animal’ is an opinion. ‘This animal lives in this region’ is something you can investigate. A single answer can mix accurate statements, uncertain statements, and opinion.
Open the source, not just the citation
Look for a relevant source with a clear author or responsible organization, such as a museum, library, scientific institution, or official agency. Open the page and find the part that supports the claim. An AI-generated title, link, or quotation can be wrong or invented.
Ask whether the source is current enough for the question. Facts about tool features, prices, or rules can change. If the source does not say what the answer claims, write ‘not supported by this source’ rather than treating a professional-looking link as proof.
Compare what you found
Use a second suitable source when the claim is uncertain, surprising, or important. Two pages repeating the same unsupported assertion are not strong independent evidence. Notice whether they refer back to a shared original source.
Create three columns on paper: claim, evidence, and our decision. Your decision can be ‘supported,’ ‘needs more checking,’ or ‘we do not know.’ You do not need to force a yes-or-no verdict when the evidence is incomplete.
Make uncertainty a normal answer
Ask how you would rewrite the statement so it matches the evidence. Replace overconfident wording with a specific, supported explanation. Keep a note of where the information came from so you can revisit it later.
Celebrate the question ‘How could we know?’ A child who spots missing evidence has done something useful even if the original answer turns out to be correct. The habit applies to videos, social posts, and conversations as well as AI-generated text.
