Scientific Explanations: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing

6th grade science

May 18, 2011

Table of Contents

WHY is writing scientific explanations beneficial to students?

Science standards for scientific explanation

2009 Washington State Science Learning Standards

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy

National Science Education Standards and AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy

Goals for students in K-8 Science (from Ready, Set, Science!)

WHAT is a scientific explanation

The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning framework for scientific explanations

Varying complexity of the CER framework (Handout 4)

HOW do you teach students to write scientific explanations

Instructional strategies for supporting scientific explanations (Handout 6)

General rubric for scientific explanations (Handout 10)

Elaboration on Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, and Rebuttal (selected pages from McNeill and Krajcik)

Sources:

McNeill, K., and Krajcik J. (2011). Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing. Pearson Education, Inc.

Michaels, S., Shouse, A. W., & Schweingruber, H.A. (2008). Ready, Set, SCIENCE! Putting research to work in K-8 science classrooms. Board on Science Education, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Common Core State StandardS for enGLISH LanGUaGe artS & LIteraCy In HIStory/SoCIaL StUdIeS, SCIenCe, and teCHnICaL SUbjeCtS

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College and Career readiness anchor Standards for readingThe K–5 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. They correspond to the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.

Key Ideas and details

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.*

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

range of reading and Level of text Complexity

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

*Please see “Research to Build and Present Knowledge” in Writing and “Comprehension and Collaboration” in Speaking and Listening for additional standards relevant to gathering, assessing, and applying information from print and digital sources.

Note on range and content of student reading

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity with various text structures and elements. By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, students build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. Students also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success.

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Common Core State StandardS for enGLISH LanGUaGe artS & LIteraCy In HIStory/SoCIaL StUdIeS, SCIenCe, and teCHnICaL SUbjeCtS

College and Career readiness anchor Standards for WritingThe K–5 standards on the following pages define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. They correspond to the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards below by number. The CCR and grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.

text types and Purposes*

1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Production and distribution of Writing

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

research to Build and Present Knowledge

7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

range of Writing

10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

*These broad types of writing include many subgenres. See Appendix A for definitions of key writing types.

Note on range and content of student writing

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students need to learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. They learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and they begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose. They develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing, producing numerous pieces over short and extended time frames throughout the year.

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Washington State Science Education Standards for scientific explanation  

EALR 2: INQUIRY   Grades K‐1 Core Content: Making Observations  

   Grades 2‐3 Core Content: Conducting Investigations  

   Grades 4‐5 Core Content: Planning Investigations  

 

   

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Goals for Students in K-8 Science

These four “strands” of science proficiency were articulated in the National Research Council consensus report, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (2008). The companion volume, Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms (2008), was written for teachers as a translation of the research findings. The following excerpt from Ready, Set, SCIENCE! elaborates on the four strands of science proficiency.

Students who are proficient in science:

1. Know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world 2. Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations 3. Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge 4. Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse

Engaging students in scientific explanations helps achieve all four goals.

The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (and Rebuttal) Framework for Scientific Explanations:  

       

Physics example Question:  Does mass affect how quickly an object falls? 

Claim:  No, mass does not affect how quickly an object falls. Evidence:  The blocks had different masses—20 g, 30 g, 44 g, 123 g, and 142 g.  But the average time 

for all five blocks was about the same—between 1.5 and 1.8 seconds. Reasoning:  Since the blocks had different masses but took about the same time to fall, I know that 

mass does not affect how quickly something falls.  Chemistry example Question:  What type of process took place (mixing, phase change, or chemical reaction)? 

Claim:  A chemical reaction occurred. Evidence:  Before, the penny was brownish in color, was not soluble in water, and had a density of 

8.96 g/cm3.  After the experiment, the green solid was formed, soluble in water, and had a density of 1.88 g/cm3.  The color, solubility, and density changed. 

Reasoning:  Color, solubility, and density are all properties.  Since the properties changed, I know a new substance was made, which means a chemical reaction occurred.  Chemical reactions create new substances that have different properties from old substances. 

 Biology example Question:  What will happen to the shark population if the phytoplankton population dies out? 

Claim:  The shark population will die out. Evidence:  The shark eats other fish such as the ocean fish and the lantern fish.  The ocean fish and 

the lantern fish eat other organisms such as shrimp and copepods.  The shrimp and copepods eat the phytoplankton. 

Reasoning:  Phytoplankton are producers and they make their own food using energy from the sun.  All other organisms in the food web depend on the phytoplankton, even if they do not directly eat them.  If the phytoplankton die, primary consumers (shrimp and copepods) will die because they will have no food, which will cause the secondary consumers (ocean fish and lantern fish) to die, which will cause the shark to die. 

 Earth Science Example Question:  How was the Grand Canyon Formed? 

Claim:  The Grand Canyon was mainly formed by water cutting into and eroding soil. Evidence:  The soil in the Grand Canyon is hard, cannot absorb water, and has few plants to hold it in 

place.  When it rains in the Grand Canyon it can rain very hard and cause flash floods.  The flash floods come down the side of the Grand Canyon and into the Colorado River. 

Reasoning:  Water moving can cause erosion.  Erosion is the movement of materials on the earth’s surface.  In terms of the Grand Canyon, the water moved the soil and rock from the sides of the Grand Canyon into the Colorado River where it was then washed away. 

1. Claim:  a statement that answers a question or problem 2. Evidence:  scientific data that supports the claim 3. Reasoning:  a justification that links the evidence to the claim (using scientific principles)  

4. Rebuttal:  describes alternative explanations and provides counter evidence and reasoning 

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