Lesson plan

Sploofus

Sploofus was a website from 2004 to 2017 that featured trivia quizzes and other online games. Its basic content was free, with two paying levels were available as well. Trivia quizzes would be submitted by site members and checked by one of 28 site editors before going live. WordPuzzles (similar to the game hangman) were written by both editors and paying players. Trivia Question(s) of the Day would be randomly selected for each player from a large database of questions created by the editorial staff and submitted by the editors. WordRounds and WordMatches designed to test vocabulary knowledge and dexterity were created by an independent third party for the webmaster. Base play was free or players could upgrade to one of two paying levels: Gold, which stopped pop-ups and outside advertising and allowed for twice-daily play of the WordPuzzles; and Platinum, which allowed players to write WordPuzzles and submit trivia questions/quizzes. Players could challenge members who were directly above them in the (total point) ranking to a Showdown. If the challenger won, (s)he would win points and the member challenged would break even. If the challenger lost, (s)he would lose points while the member challenged would break even. Additionally, wagers allowed every player to bet any number of points up to a predetermined maximum based on 25% of that player's point total.…

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Article summary

Sploofus was a website from 2004 to 2017 that featured trivia quizzes and other online games. Its basic content was free, with two paying levels were available as well. Trivia quizzes would be submitted by site members and checked by one of 28 site editors before going live. WordPuzzles (similar to the game hangman) were written by both editors and paying players. Trivia Question(s) of the Day would be randomly selected for each player from a large database of questions created by the editorial staff and submitted by the editors. WordRounds and WordMatches designed to test vocabulary knowledge and dexterity were created by an independent third party for the webmaster. Base play was free or players could upgrade to one of two paying levels: Gold, which stopped pop-ups and outside advertising and allowed for twice-daily play of the WordPuzzles; and Platinum, which allowed players to write WordPuzzles and submit trivia questions/quizzes. Players could challenge members who were directly above them in the (total point) ranking to a Showdown. If the challenger won, (s)he would win points and the member challenged would break even. If the challenger lost, (s)he would lose points while the member challenged would break even. Additionally, wagers allowed every player to bet any number of points up to a predetermined maximum based on 25% of that player's point total.…

Key claims

  1. date of formation: 2006 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. members: 67,000 members — 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 date of formation is "2006". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the members is "67,000 members". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. 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=1376108793

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