CLAIM! What I think What’s my position? What is my point? What am I trying to say? CLAIM! What I think What am I arguing for? What’s my position? What do I think is right?
EVIDENCE! What are the facts? What have I found? How can I back it up? What information am I presenting? What are the facts? What do I know? What did I research?
What’s my thought process? How do I justify it? How do I help you understand? REASONING! How can I explain my position ? How does my evidence fit my claim? What’s my thought process? How did I get to my claim?
Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Exploring scientific argumentation
Assignment or Topic This is what you are going to research or make claims about. What is the main idea you are trying to state? What is the subject? What is your position on a topic?
Claims Claims are the statements that answer the original question, or provide the position that you are going to try to defend. A claim makes a statement. The claim must be accurate, specific, and answer the question (if there is one). The claim is generally one or two sentences in length. Helping students succeed—Before they write Talk about why you’re using the CER framework: This is how you make an argument or explanation convincing. This is what scientists do. Explain each part.
Evidence The evidence is all available scientific or other data that supports your claim. Evidence does not attempt to give an explanation, rather it is the information about the topic that you have gathered. It can come from a variety of sources: your textbook, reading selections, videos, lab investigations, class notes, internet sources, etc. Explain each part… The evidence includes the clues: the observations made and the data collected.
Evidence It should include both qualitative and quantitative data. It is important to have as much evidence as possible (or practical) in order to prove your claim. More evidence means a stronger position.
How cute is this cat?
How about this one?
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Qualitative data is data that comes from a personal place, and usually cannot be measured except with relative terms. Ex: If I show you a picture of a cat, and then ask you how cute it is, that’s not a very accurate process, but it will give some useful data, especially when dealing with subjects that are hard to assign numbers to, such as popularity, likes, and dislikes, among other things.
Quantitative data Quantitative data, by contrast, is data that can be counted, checked, and categorized. Quantitative data could be the number of students in a class, or the number of people who bought tickets to a movie. This data is useful when attempting to categorize things according to measurable statistics.
Look at these cats!
Reasoning Reasoning is the explanation that connects your claim to the evidence that supports it or why you think your claim (answer to the question) is correct . It shows why the data you chose counts as evidence. It shows a detailed understanding of the principles involved and uses correct science vocabulary. Explain each part… Reasoning is why the scientists think their answer is correct. Scientists explain how the evidence helps answer the question.
Reasoning Your reasoning will also act as a conclusion. If evidence presented is from an experiment, it can be the “conclusion” of the lab report. This section can be several sentences in length or longer, depending on the complexity of the claim.
When can a CER be used? Use it to engage in structured argumentation to explain or defend a scientific concept. Use it after an experiment to explain why a hypothesis was proven correct or not. Use it to discuss claims made in videos or documentaries.
Show Your Evidence! Sentence Starters According to the text… On page ___, it said … The author wrote… For instance… From the reading, I know that… Based on what I read… The graphic showed… For example… Help students with writing words they might include
Writing Words “Uncertainty” words: usually, generally, suggests, indicates Sequencing words: first, second, third Therefore Because If… Then… However Additional writing words students might want to include.
CER Grading Rubric
Topics Red Jellybeans are the best ones. Television is the most important invention of the 20th Century. Gas prices are lower in developing (i.e. third world) nations. Seafood-based diets are healthier for you. Tea is the most popular drink in the world. Students studying math online do better than those studying math in the traditional classroom. More young adults under the age of 30 are living with their parents today than in past years. People are saving more money for retirement today than in previous generations. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Taylor Swift is the greatest performer of all time. Chicken soup is a good remedy for a cold. Cats are the best pet to have in your house.