Section outline

  • The 1938 Martian Invasion Scare:

    A Lesson in Critical Thinking: Would you have been Fooled?

    This lesson is about a how a radio play airing in 1938, frightened many Americans into believing that the world was being invaded by Martians! It is a study in critical thinking. There were several different actions that listeners could have done to quickly figure out that the broadcast was fake. How did it happen? Could it happen again? Could such a scare ever occur in New Zealand? This lesson will help to answer these and other questions.

    Success criteria: Students will be able to critically evaluate information that is presented by media outlets and will be able to identify key factors that determine whether or not a particular source is credible and the event in question actually happened or not.