1. CER; Claim, Evidence, Reasoning
Claim: Your position on an issue/problem. Answers the question “What do you know?”
Ex- Ice melts faster in the sun than in the shade.
Evidence: DATA that answers the question “How do you know that?” Good evidence includes numbers, observations, trends, etc.
Ex- We had 2 ice cubes of identical size. One in the shade, and one in the sun. The ice cube in the sun melted in 15 min. 23 sec. and the ice cube in the shade melted in 18 min. 2 sec.
Note: Without DATA your evidence is NO GOOD.
Reasoning: Answers the question “Why does your evidence support your claim?” while using your DATA.
Ex- Since the ice cube in the sun melted 1 min. 39 sec. faster than the ice cube in the shade, our claim is TRUE.

2. Independent vs. Dependent Variables
Dependent = Y axis; data that goes here DOES rely on the values of the X axis.
Independent = X axis; data that goes here DOES NOT rely on the values of the Y axis.