What Holds Up Online: teacher key

Staying Safe Online, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. Social media and AI tools make it easy to build credible-looking content, which is why checking the source matters. Learn how fact-checkers read, how scams and passwords work, and what to do when something goes wrong.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. Why does checking the source matter?
   • Social media and AI tools make it easy to build credible-looking content (answer)
   • Websites are slower
   • Phones are cheaper
2. What is a false post not always?
   • A lie told on purpose (answer)
   • A photo
   • A search result
3. In lateral reading, what are other websites such as search engines?
   • Tools to judge how reliable a source is (answer)
   • Sources to cite
   • Passwords
4. What does tracing a claim mean?
   • Counting its words
   • Going back to the original source to see if a quote or study was fairly represented (answer)
   • Copying it
5. Why is a code typed in by hand not phishing-resistant, as of November 2026?
   • A fake site could pass the code on to the real site and sign in (answer)
   • Codes are too long
   • Phones cannot read them
6. What can a fake site do with a code typed in by hand?
   • Pass the code on to the real site and sign in (answer)
   • Delete the code
   • Make the code longer

Words

• lateral: opening new tabs
• SIFT: four-move method
• fingerprinting: device tracking
• misinformation: false things spreading