This is my first crack at trying to describe Critical Thinking to Middle School math students.

1. What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is analyzing information and situations. It
can be used with even the the most basic facts. Doing it
well involves the amount of background information
already known, understanding the context, and analyzing
from different perspectives.

2. Yankees 5 Twins 3Yankees 5 Twins 3
Basic Fact
•Yankees beat the Twins in baseball
You know relatively little about anything you read or
hear and if you only think about it for a few seconds

3. Yankees 5 Twins 3Yankees 5 Twins 3
Basic Fact
•Yankees beat the Twins in baseball
What does this mean?
• How meaningful was the game?
• Was this expected?
• Who usually wins between the teams?
• What is the Yankees record?
• What is the Twins record?
• Are the yankees on a winning/losing streak?
• Are the Twins on a winning/losing streak?
• Did anything unusual affect the outcome?
• Did the Twins play their best players?
• Did the Yankees play their best players?
• Were there any key injuries to either team?
• Did a rookie(s) outplay the veterans
• What were the key plays for the Yankees?
• What were the key plays for the Twins?
Probe and analyze to discover how the
significance of this particular game?

4. Yankees 5 Twins 3Yankees 5 Twins 3
Basic Fact
•Yankees beat the Twins in baseball
What does this mean?
• How meaningful was the game?
• Was this expected?
• Who usually wins between the teams?
• What is the Yankees record?
• What is the Twins record?
• Are the yankees on a winning/losing streak?
• Are the Twins on a winning/losing streak?
• Did anything unusual affect the outcome?
• Did the Twins play their best players?
• Did the Yankees play their best players?
• Were there any key injuries to either team?
• Did a rookie(s) outplay the veterans
• What were the key plays for the Yankees?
• What were the key plays for the Twins?
Extend what you found in level two with more “macro” level analysis
What is the “greater” significance?
• How does this game affect their overall standings?
• Does this impact their playoff potential?
• What is a “good” team?
• Does the “good” team usually win?
• Does a team’s payroll impact their record?
• Does their stadium impact their record?
• How much does the manager impact their record?
• What are the characteristics of the best players?
• What are the characteristics of the best teams?
• What are the characteristics of the worst teams?