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Documentary Evidence Lab

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Young filmmakers learn to fact-check like journalists while they make a short documentary. They compare sources and interviews before a single frame is edited. It is a great fit for anyone who loves storytelling and wants to make something that is accurate, not just convincing.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • Printed NASA/NOAA graphs of temperature, carbon dioxide, solar activity, and volcanic eruptionsPrintinguse what you have
  • index cardsBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

Video camera or school device (interviews); Index cards (source log); Printed NASA/NOAA graphs of temperature, carbon dioxide, solar activity, and volcanic eruptions

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

  • Video camera or phone

    Video camera or phone (interviews)

    No link

  • Index cards

    Index cards (source log)

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Steps

  1. Collect three or four popular claims about why Earth has warmed since 1900 (for example: it is the sun, it is volcanoes, it is carbon dioxide from burning fuels). Predict what evidence would prove or disprove each.
  2. Study printed NASA and NOAA graphs of global temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide, solar activity, and major volcanic eruptions. Log each on an index card with its source and a confidence rating.
  3. Question round: for each claim, write at least three questions that would clarify the evidence, such as 'Did solar activity rise when temperature rose after 1960?' Sort them into questions the graphs can answer and ones they cannot, then refine the weak ones.
  4. Answer the refined questions by comparing the graphs, and film short interviews with a teacher or science volunteer using those questions.
  5. Show a rough cut to a small group and ask which claims they want more proof for. Find two sources that seem to disagree and show that honestly on camera. Revise and show the same group again.
  6. Edit a 3 to 5 minute documentary that shows the questions, the graphs that answer them, and which factors the evidence supports.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-ESS3-5

    Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.