Lesson plan

Madballs

Madballs is a series of toy foam balls originally created by AmToy, a subsidiary company of American Greetings (now Cloudco Entertainment), and first available in stores in 1986, later being revived by Art Asylum (2007–2008) and Just Play, Inc. (2017–2019). The balls incorporated gross-out humor and each was given a character synopsis and an odd name. The toyline expanded into a franchise with a comic book series, two direct-to-video animated cartoons, and a video game for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64.

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Article summary

Madballs is a series of toy foam balls originally created by AmToy, a subsidiary company of American Greetings (now Cloudco Entertainment), and first available in stores in 1986, later being revived by Art Asylum (2007–2008) and Just Play, Inc. (2017–2019). The balls incorporated gross-out humor and each was given a character synopsis and an odd name. The toyline expanded into a franchise with a comic book series, two direct-to-video animated cartoons, and a video game for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64.

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1988 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. release date: 1986 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. release date: 1987 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  4. release date: 1986 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  5. release date: 1988 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  6. release date: 2009-07-15 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  7. release date: 2017-03-01 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1988". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the release date is "1986". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the release date is "1987". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. The record states that the release date is "1986". What evidence would count against this claim?
  6. The record states that the release date is "1988". What evidence would count against this claim?
  7. The record states that the release date is "2009-07-15". What evidence would count against this claim?
  8. The record states that the release date is "2017-03-01". What evidence would count against this claim?
  9. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  10. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378481457

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.