Illustrated lesson that teaches students how to evaluate claims and evidence. Lesson includes animation, activities, and probing questions.

1. Beyond the Twilight Zone:
Fact or Fiction
Read, Discuss, and Write

2. Common Core Lesson
This short lesson is designed to be completed in one
or two class periods. In some cases, longer class
discussions may lengthen the lesson to three days.
By
Dean Berry, Ed. D
Gregg Berry, B.A.
www. Commoncorecurriculum.info

3. Introduction
This unit of study will help you
learn the following important
common core curriculum
standards.
Right Click to Pause
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4. Common Core Writing Standard
Write
informative/explan
atory texts to
examine a topic
and convey ideas
and information
clearly.

5. Text Types and Purposes
Write arguments to support
claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts
using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient
evidence

6. Speaking and Listening
Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions with
diverse partners on topics and
texts, building on others’ ideas
and expressing their own
clearly

7. Beyond the Twilight Zone
Most of us are intrigued
by mysterious events
like mental telepathy
and luck.This lesson
will help us gather
evidence and facts and
analyze whether
psychic events actually
occur. This section will
introduce the issues
that surround
parapsychology.

8. Take Notes
As we proceed
through this lesson,
you will need to
take careful notes.
The information you
gather will be
useful in writing an
essay.
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9. There are many unusual phenomena that stimulate our
imagination. Have we been visited by aliens from outer
space? Does the Loch Ness Monster really exist? Do some
people actually have the ability to read our minds or
predict future events? Most of these kinds of questions
can be answered by collecting and analyzing evidence
from credible sources.

10. Some people believe in mind
over matter or mental
telepathy. Other people are
more skeptical and insist on
more solid evidence before
being convinced of such
things. During the last
twenty five years, over forty
percent of Americans
reported that they believed in
extra sensory perception.
.

11. Class Discussion
•Do you believe in mental telepathy?
•Can people communicate through some kind
of medium other than through normal
senses? Is mind reading possible?
• Right Click to Pause or Go Back

12. When we say that an event or outcome is supported by
research, that generally means that several independent
research studies have found similar results using proper
experimental methods. This means that a study is
reproducible and that the results can be duplicated by
different scientists. It also means that the method of
testing included identifying and controlling all of the
significant variables so that cause and effect were clear.

13. One of the requirements of conducting reliable
experiments is ensuring that an adequate number of trials
or repetitions have been done. For example, if you are
measuring the probability of rolling certain numbers with
a pair of dice, your results will be far more reliable if you
roll 25 times rather than 5 times.

14. Class Discussion
• What is probability?
• If you roll one die, what is the probablity that
you will roll a six?
• What is the probability that you will roll a six or
a four?

15. When testing phenomena such as mental
telepathy, it is particularly important to ensure
that the two subjects who are sending and
receiving mental messages have no other way to
communicate information. Any leakage of
“sensory communication”, such as facial or body
cues, would invalidate the results of the
experiment.

16. Mental telepathy is the transmission of information from
one person to another person without using any known
sensory channels or physical interaction. During the last
150 years, there have been hundreds of experiments
attempting to prove that mental telepathy was a real form
of communication for certain people. Some of the
experimental studies were poorly designed and could not
be duplicated. The vast majority of studies conducted by
professional laboratories did not find any significant
evidence that mental telepathy existed.

17. • In our culture it is customary to accept
religious ideas based on faith rather than
scientific proof. However, when we seek to
explain events and phenomena in our
environment, as educated individuals, we
are expected to apply logic and scientific
problem solving methods. For that reason, it
is imperative to separate fact from fiction
when considering psychic and paranormal
phenomena such as mental telepathy,
precognition, and psychokinesis. Thirty
years ago, a major group of scientists
operating under the United States National
Research Council conducted a review of
major paranormal studies and concluded
that, despite a 130 year record of scientific
research, the committee found, “No
justification for the existence of phenomena
such as extrasensory perception, mental
telepathy, or mind over matter exercises.”

18. Class Discussion
What is telekinesis(psychokinesis)?
What are some examples of telekinesis?
Do you think telekinesis is ever possible?
Right Click to Pause or Go Back

19. • Most cities and towns have
psychics who profess the ability
to predict the future or contact
the deceased. Using props like
crystal balls, they tell fortunes
and conduct séances. Of course,
they have an important motivator
since they charge considerable
sums of money for their services.
These psychic mediums are very
skilled at using tricks and
illusions during séances to have
objects fly through the air and
tables levitate in mid air.

20. Class Discussion
• Have you ever had a psychic predict your future?
• How did the predictions work out? Were the
predictions highly specific or vague and
general?
• Do you know many people who believe in
psychics and use their services?

21. The famous Harry Houdini exposed many fake
mediums and the tricks they used to convince
believers that they had special psychic powers.
He wrote a book titled, Miracle Mongers and
Their Methods.

22. • In the 1970’s, mind over
matter(telekinesis) became the new
rage with Uri Geller making
numerous appearances on television
displaying his ability to use his
psychic powers to bend spoons. Even
the most keen observers could not
see any possible way that he used
tricks to bend the spoons. Many
people were convinced that Uri
Geller actually had telekinetic
powers that he used to bend spoons.
However, within a few years, all of
his tricks were exposed, and
magicians began demonstrating how
“slight of hand” was successfully
used to make the bending of spoons
appear to be psychic powers.

23. The debate over telekinesis and mental telepathy
continues today with many people taking pro and con
positions on the issues. So far scientists do not know of
any mechanism that would enable brain waves to reach
and control objects outside of the body. Physics shows
that brain waves can only travel about a quarter of an inch
beyond the skull.

24. Skeptics are quick to point out that if people had
telekinetic powers, why wouldn’t they go to Las Vegas and
make millions rolling the dice. If people have precognition
abilities, they could choose lottery winning numbers in
advance and become billionaires. Educated people should
make decisions based on proven facts and reliable
evidence.

25. Class Discussion
• Why do you think people who have special
psychic powers do not use their powers to
become rich?
• What would you do if you had psychic powers?
•Right Click to Pause or Go Back

26. • Applying” evidence based
thinking” to the real world can
sometimes be a challenge.
Unraveling cause and effect can
be elusive when there is a chain
of random of events that occurs
before an emotionally charged
event such as a serious auto
collision or an accidental
meeting that results in a long
term relationship. Most people
consider these occurrences as
very unlucky or very lucky
events.

27. Class Discussion
• Do you think that some people are much luckier than
other people?
• What do you mean by luck?
• Give some examples of when you think pure luck
changed your life. Was it really luck?

28. • Pure luck assumes that people do
not have any direct affect on the
events that surround them. The
belief is that all events are
predetermined by external forces
rather than each individual’s free
will. People who have this belief
system are highly prone to be
superstitious about things like
four leaf clovers, black cats,
ladders, and broken mirrors, etc.

29. Class Discussion
•How many superstitions do
you know about?
•Do you believe any of these?

30. To better understand luck, think of a situation where you might feel
lucky. Let’s assume that you had a horrible automobile collision and
were unhurt. Analyze the contributing factors to the accident.
Examine the cause and effect relationships. What were some of the
important causes of the event? Do you think that the actions that
caused the accident were luck or other factors such as human
behavior, road conditions, or mechanical failure? Let’s also assume
that a black cat ran in front of your car several hours before the
accident. Does that change what you think caused the accident?

31. Class Discussion
•Do good or evil forces operating outside of your control
determine what grade you will get on a test?
•What are some of the factors that may determine the
grade you will get on a test?

32. Most events in our daily lives occur because of the actions of others and are beyond our
control. We can’t create fewer drunk drivers on Saturday afternoon near our home. As a
result, unforeseen events by a drunk driver on Saturday afternoon may cause a horrible
accident that results in our demise. The drunk driver was not unlucky, but he was driving
under the influence and unable to stay in his lane. Your accident was caused by the
actions of another person. The fact that you were unhurt may be that the other driver
was driving a “smart car” and you were driving a truck. Was this luck or the choice you
made to drive a larger vehicle?

33. Class Discussion
• Can you defend the following positions?
When two cars collide, resulting in an accident, the collision will have
been caused by bad luck determined by forces beyond the control of both
drivers.
When two cars collide, resulting in an accident, the collision will have
been caused by the actions of the drivers, the cars, or the road.

34. • When people talk about “luck”, they may have different ideas about
what luck means. Most people think of luck as being fortunate
because things are going their way. However, being fortunate may
be because they made the right decisions. In other words, people’s
behavior contributes to future events that affect them. If they study
for a class, they will probably be fortunate when grades are given.
Are they lucky to get a “B” in the class? Or did their prior behavior
and the actions of the teacher cause the grade to be a “B”? During
this unit we will define “luck” as success brought by chance rather
than one’s own actions.

35. Sometimes things happen randomly without a conscious decision.
You decide to go to Mc Donald’s for a burger. While you are waiting
for your order, a friend from school walks in. Five minutes later
another friend enters the restaurant. You are amazed at this
unusual coincidence. There are times in our lives when
independent decisions made by several other people turn out to
have a direct, although accidental, affect on our lives. Since we
have a difficult time trying to figure out how these things can
happen, it may be easier to attribute these very perplexing events
to fate or some forces beyond ourselves. But in reality, these
coincidences have a high probability of occurring at some point in
the future. If you roll the dice enough times you will eventually get
snake eyes.

36. Class Discussion
• Have you ever experienced an event that made you
stop and wonder if what happened was too strange
and unusual to be caused by normal circumstances?
• Do you think that events in our lives are
predetermined by external forces regardless our
decisions and behavior?

37. • According to research,
people who see themselves
as lucky actually appear
luckier than others because
they are more optimistic
and willing to take
advantage of opportunities.
You might say that
“success breeds more
success”. The message
seems to be that people
make their own luck by
being positive and better
prepared for future
challenges.

38. Once in awhile the human brain has difficulty separating
intuition and emotional content from scientific reality.
Some people consider themselves unlucky if they live in a
house that seems haunted. Weird noises and flying
objects can definitely ruin a good night’s sleep. For
thousands of years many people have been fixated on the
spookiness of poltergeists. But do ghosts actually exist or
is the emotional part of our brain clouding our perception
of reality?

39. • Most of us have experienced
unexplainable and mysterious events
at least once in our life time. Sitting
at home alone on a stormy late
evening with creaking sounds coming
from an unknown source begins to
get our serious attention. Fear is a
very normal reaction in humans and
animals. Dogs will bark at the
slightest noise late at night. As the
night unfolds , our senses are
heightened, and we begin to search
for clues to the midnight mystery.
With our imagination in full gear, we
begin to consider the possibility that
we are not really alone. Perhaps
spirits are visiting our humble abode.

40. Class Discussion
•Have you ever experienced a creepy
feeling when you were home alone at
night?
•Did you ever see or hear disturbances
that made you think that ghosts or
spirits were close by?

41. • For hundreds of years people have
reported seeing or hearing
unexplainable phenomena that they
suspected were caused by ghostly
apparitions. Often, those who
specialize in ghostly investigations
search for magnetic fields or
unearthly sounds or movements.
Sometimes recordings or photographs
are taken to help document the
existence of the supernatural events.
But despite all of the observations
and investigations, no scientific
evidence has been collected that
scientists can use to establish proof
that ghosts actually exist.

42. Class Opinion Poll
What Do You Think?

43. Do you believe
that psychic
powers are real?

44. Raise your hand if…

45. Do psychic powers really exist?
...you believe that psychic
powers are not real because they
are based on clever tricks rather
than scientific facts.

46. Raise your hand if…

47. Are psychic powers real?
…you believe that most
psychic powers are real and
are not clever tricks.

48. Write an Essay
Organize your ideas and
prepare to write an essay
about psychic powers and
whether or not they are
real events supported by
science. Present the pros
and cons of each side of
the issue. Conclude your
essay by presenting your
position and the supporting
evidence.

49. Write a Position Paper
Use your notes to write a two
page position paper to
reviewing the issues related to
psychic phenomena.
Provide specific information to
support your proposed ideas
with clearly articulated
arguments and
sufficient evidence.

50. Your Position
• Define the issue/problem
• Outline the details of your
argument
• Present supporting
arguments and examples
• Project possible problems
with your position
• Specify any weaknesses
identified with either side
of the issue

51. Develop a Writing Plan
•Determine what your
main point will be, and
write a topic sentence
that provides focus for
your essay.
•Choose several main ideas
that support your topic
sentence.
•Sort your information into
supporting details with
facts and examples.
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52. Use the five
paragraph essay
format to write
your paper.
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53. 53
Five Paragraph Essay
Outline
Introduction
What is my topic
sentence?
Body-Main Ideas
With supporting
details
Conclusion
How can I summarize
my paragraph?
How can I rephrase
my topic sentence?

54. Essays Require
Three Main
Sections

55. Begin Your Essay With
a Carefully Crafted
Introduction

56. Get the Reader’s Attention and State Your Thesis

57. The Key Elements of a
Strong Introduction

58. Check Out This Sample Introduction

59. Details Must Support the Main Ideas
Provide specific
facts, examples,
and reasons for
each main idea
in the body of
your essay

60. Create an Outline
Topic Sentence___________________________________
_______________________________________________
A. Main Idea_____________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
_______________________________________________
B. Main Idea_____________________________________
_______________________________________________
Details/Evidence__________________________________
________________________________________________
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61. Your Essay Topic
Use your notes to write a two
page position paper to review
the issues related to psychic
phenomena.
Provide specific information to
support your proposed ideas
with clearly articulated
arguments and
sufficient evidence.

62. Prepare to Write
•Use your outline and
write a five paragraph
essay about your psychic
topic.
• As you write your rough
draft, it will be very
important to use special
words that enable you to
transition smoothly from
one idea to the next.
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63. Transition Words
As you view these
words, select the
words that help you
make transitions
smoothly from one
idea to the next.
• as a result
• such as
• for example
• nevertheless
• for that reason
• finally
• at this time
• therefore
• furthermore
• in addition
• in conclusion
• as well as
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64. Write a Conclusion
Write a conclusion for
your essay reviewing
your main points and
discussing why this issue
is important.

65. Write a Strong Conclusion for Your Essay

67. Let’s Review a Good Conclusion

68. Review, Edit, and Rewrite
1. Re-read your essay several
times.
2. How can you improve your
sentences to communicate more
clearly?
3. Are your main ideas supported
by examples and details?
4. Exchange papers with another
student and read each other’s
essay out loud.
5. Make final corrections and write
the final draft of your polished
essay. 68