Cameron Todd Willingham

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cameron-todd-willingham

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Cameron Todd Willingham born?January 9, 1968
2. What is the date of execution?February 17, 2004
3. What is the location of incident?Corsicana, Texas
4. Who was Cameron Todd Willingham?He was a man from Texas who was accused of setting a house fire that killed his three daughters. He survived the fire.
5. What happened in the house fire?On December 23, 1991, a fire broke out in his home in Corsicana, Texas, and it killed his three young daughters. The fire was later said to have started on purpose.

Arson: The criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property.
Forensic Fire Investigation: The scientific process of determining the origin and cause of a fire.
Wrongful Conviction: A conviction of an innocent person in a court of law.
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs.