BIOL 1110 Part IV Scientific Literacy Project

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University of North Carolina, Charlotte *

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1110

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Biology

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Feb 20, 2024

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BIOL 1110: Scientific Literacy End-of-Semester Project PART IV: EVALUATING A NEWS ARTICLE Choose a news article with a scientific claim to evaluate. It can be any kind of scientific claim, as long as it’s there! Include the link to your news article here: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/10/scientists-develop-ai-tool-that-predicts-virus-mutations/ 1. What is the scientific claim that your article is making? There is a way to predict when a new viral variant will emerge. Use the knowledge you gained from this class and from the previous activities to complete the following tables. Article Title Staying ahead of virus mutations Date published or last updated October 11, 2023 Is this date recent enough for your topic? Explain. Yes, the article was published, so it was pretty recent. Publisher or sponsor USA government Is the publisher/sponsor trustworthy? What are their basic values? Yes, the Harvard Medical School and the University of Oxford are both prestigious universites What domain does the URL use? Generally trustworthy: Can be owned by anyone: .gov .edu .com .net .org Does the site’s name match the URL? Yes No Are ads on the website (if any) clearly marked? Yes No Briefly describe the main idea(s) of the article. Include supporting details. An AI tool called EVEscape that can predict future viral variants before they emerge. EVEscape can quickly evaluate viral variants and identify the most threatening ones. EVEscape is also very flexible, so it can be adapted to different viruses beyond SARS-CoV-2, like HIV, and influenza. Author of the article Catherine Caruso What are the author’s credentials/qualifications? Caruso is a science writer for Harvard that covers stories about neurobiology, cell biology, and systems biology. I believe this makes her qualified to write this article. What is the author trying to do? Inform Persuade Present an opinion What affiliations or conflicts of interest are mentioned? Harvard Medical School and the University of Oxford

Sell something Entertain Does the author seem objective (uses facts, not opinions)? Explain. Yes. The author presents the facts in a mostly neutral tone, while disclosing affiliations and funding sources. Does the author give references for data or quotations? The author has multiple direct quotes from the researchers such as Debora Marks, Nicole Thadani, etc. and quotes EVEscape's capacity to predict SARS-CoV-2 mutations and variants which is referenced in the study published on the research. Question Yes/No Tips C urrency: The timeliness of the information Was the information published or updated recently ? Yes For a news article, check the date it was published. For a website, check the copyright date or “last updated” date. Is the information recent enough for your topic? Yes For topics like current events or new research, it’s important to use up-to-date sources. For other topics, like history, older sources may also work. If using a website, do the links work ? Yes A website with broken links might be outdated. R eliability: The accuracy and truthfulness of the information Is the information supported by evidence like data or quotes? Are there references for the evidence? Yes If the source references a research study, try to find out more about the study. Make sure the study was valid and represented accurately. Does the source make reasonable claims about what the evidence shows? Yes Some sources may overgeneralize the results of a study. Check where the study was done, how many individuals it tested, if it used humans or animals, etc. If the study used animals, for example, its results may not apply to humans. Has the information (or its references) been reviewed ? Yes Be wary of information from a study that was not published in a peer-reviewed journal. Can you confirm the information using another source or your own knowledge? Yes Trust your judgment and be wary of claims that have been shown to be false by a trustworthy source, such as an educational or government website. Does the language or tone seem unbiased and professional ? Yes Avoid sources that use opinionated or biased language, or are poorly written with spelling and grammar errors. A uthority: The source of the information Is the author, publisher, or sponsor of the information a Yes If you’re using a website, check the domain in the URL. In the United States, websites with the domain .edu are owned by

trustworthy source , such as an educational or government institution? educational institutions, and those with the domain .gov are owned by the government. Is the author qualified to write on the topic? Yes Check the author’s credentials/qualifications to see how experienced they are with the topic. Is the author likely to be unbiased about the topic? Yes Check the author’s background and organizations they work with to see if they may have biases or conflicts of interest. Is there any contact information ? No Avoid sources without an email, publisher address, etc. P urpose: The reason the information exists Is the purpose of the information to teach or inform , rather than to sell, entertain, or persuade? Yes Avoid sources that are just trying to sell products, get more views, or push a personal agenda. If there are any advertisements, they should be clearly marked as such. Is the information fact , rather than opinion or propaganda? Yes The information should be objective, meaning that it uses facts instead of personal opinions or emotions. Does the source’s point of view seem unbiased ? Yes Be wary of sources that have political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases. 1. Based on all the information you found, is your article trustworthy? Explain your decision using three pieces of evidence from your tables. Yes I would say this article is credible and trustworthy because the article seeks to inform the reader. The author speaks with a neutral tone delivering the information in a very unbiased manner while references their sources and giving direct quotes. Also the author herself is very credible because has a history of writing scientific articles related to the matter covered in the article. And finally the article was recently published, so it seems like it has current, up to date information. 2. How does the information in the article relate to you, your community, or society in general? The information in the article relates to me because as someone experienced during the Covid- 19 pandemic it felt like the lockdown would never end especially since it lasted a long time. I was very nervous when they announced the delta variant because I wondered are we were gonna go back to lockdown. Even when wearing a mask I was worried it would never get back to normal. In the future it would be nice to know or have a heads up when another pandemic or epidemic happens or a different source to learn about their different variants that may begin to arise.

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