Anecdotal Fallacy Question Pack - Free Download

In 1957, doctors began handing pregnant women a pill called thalidomide. Mothers said it stopped morning sickness in minutes - gentle, harmless, "even safe for pregnant women." Other mothers heard the stories and asked for it too. Doctors trusted what they were hearing. By 1961, more than 10,000 babies had been born missing arms, missing legs, missing eyes. Thousands didn't survive.

There were no proper safety studies on pregnant women. The "evidence" was a story, passed mouth to mouth - "it worked for me, it'll work for you." Personal stories don't make something safe. They just make it feel safe.

That's the Anecdotal Fallacy: using one person's story as proof for everyone. "It worked for me" versus all the evidence in the world - and the story wins. Your kids hear it constantly. In every "my grandpa smoked every day and he's fine" they'll ever be handed. This free Question Pack teaches them to ask the question that beats it: "Where's the proof?"

What's in the free Question Pack:

• Discussion and research questions that get kids arguing about the Thalidomide story - the productive kind of arguing
• A guided walk through how glowing testimonials kept a dangerous drug on the shelves - while one sceptical reviewer demanded evidence and saved thousands of lives
• An answer sheet, so you can run it at the dinner table or in a classroom with zero prep

The deal, stated plainly We teach people to spot manipulation, so it would be a bit rich to hide ours. This pack is free because it's the best advertisement we have. You hand over your email, we send the download, and every so often we'll email you about new packs, book and our card game. Unsubscribe the moment we get boring. 

One email. Check your spam folder - our goodies have a talent for landing there. 

What the free pack doesn't include

The fully illustrated Thalidomide story. The Duchess & Bruno comic. The Spot-the-Fallacy hunt through real ads and headlines. The Code Breaker, the Draw Your Own Comic page, and the hidden Gizmo kids go feral trying to find.

All of that lives in the Anecdotal Fallacy Activity Pack - a 20-page printed booklet, rated 5.0 by teachers and parents on Etsy and TPT. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "My kids absolutely adore the characters and story! It reminds us of horrible histories. I haven't found anything like this pack before." - Sandra

It's one of 24. Every pack takes one fallacy, one historical disaster and one comic - and turns them into a kid who is very hard to fool.