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Documentary Evidence Lab

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Grades 9-123-4 hoursSource: Creative Dad Company

Young filmmakers learn to fact-check like journalists while building a short documentary, cross-referencing sources and interviews before a single frame gets edited together. It's a great fit for a teen who loves storytelling but wants to make something rigorous, not just persuasive.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Prep: 10 minActivity: 30 min1 session~$2/groupOne table for the Documentary Evidence Lab evidence and prototypeBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or handwrite the four Documentary Evidence Lab challenge steps and place common paper supplies on one table. Prepare one small sample, dataset, scenario, or recycled-material model drawn directly from the project description; no device, paid tool, room decoration, or purchased kit is required.

Activity

  1. Read the Documentary Evidence Lab challenge aloud, then pick a small, verifiable local claim—like 'this park was built in 1972'—and predict what kinds of evidence would prove or disprove it.
  2. Use paper, index cards, recycled objects, or facilitator-provided sample data to film short interviews and gather at least three independent sources, logging each one on an index card with a confidence rating.
  3. Run one tabletop trial and discover that two sources contradict each other, and decide as a team how to handle the conflict honestly on camera instead of hiding it.
  4. Finish by edit a 3-5 minute documentary that shows its own fact-checking process and screen it for an audience, inviting them to challenge any claim; record the evidence that supports the decision.

Done when: The group completes a defensible Documentary Evidence Lab solution, records at least one test result or comparison, changes one claim or design in response, and supports its final decision with that evidence.

Materials

smartphone or camera, notebook, sticky notes, index cards, tripod or phone stand

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Disclosure: Materials links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Steps

  1. Pick a small, verifiable local claim—like 'this park was built in 1972'—and predict what kinds of evidence would prove or disprove it.
  2. Film short interviews and gather at least three independent sources, logging each one on an index card with a confidence rating.
  3. Discover that two sources contradict each other, and decide as a team how to handle the conflict honestly on camera instead of hiding it.
  4. Edit a 3-5 minute documentary that shows its own fact-checking process and screen it for an audience, inviting them to challenge any claim.