1. Writing Conclusions Using CER in Science
Slides to use with students begin with slide 4.

2. Writing Conclusions Using CER in Science

3. What are the parts of a Conclusion?
CLAIM
EVIDENCE
REASONING
or….CER
Student slide

4. CLAIM A statement about the solution to a problem
A response to a question
An answer to a problem

5. EVIDENCE Relevant data or facts that supports the claim
Observations that support the claim

6. REASONING Explains how the evidence is linked to the claim
Tells why the data, facts, or observations support the claim
Shows an understanding of evidence by telling why science explains the results.

7. What do you claim happened? My dog ran away.
There’s a loose plank and a hole under the fence. My dog’s chain is broken.
What evidence supports your claim?
What reasons do you have for connecting that specific evidence to your claim?
Since my dog is not on the end of the chain, he is small enough to fit through the hole in the fence, and he is strong enough to break the chain, I conclude that he must have ran away.
[4 minutes]
Study this picture. What happened? Be prepared to explain your answer and support your thinking with appropriate evidence. (Pause 30 seconds.)
Turn to a shoulder partner at your table and share your conclusion. Explain your answer and give evidence to support your thinking. When it’s your turn to listen, try to mentally identify your partner’s claim, evidence, and reasoning. You will have 1 minute. (Pause 1 minute.)
Let’s talk about how the three parts of a logical response guided your response.
[Click] In this scenario, if the dog’s owner walked into the backyard, what would he claim happened? (The dog ran away…got out.)
[Click] That’s correct. Are there other possibilities?
[Click] What evidence supports the claim that the dog got out? (broken chain, loose plank in fence, hold under fence, no dog in sight)
[Click] That’s correct. Does the evidence support an alien abduction? (No.) Does the evidence support a dog knapping? (No.) Could the dog have gotten hit by a car? (While that may be within the realm of reasonableness, there is no available evidence to support that claim.) The claim must be based on available evidence.
[Click] What reasons logically connect the available evidence to the claim?
[Click] The dog is no longer on the chain where the little boy left him, and there’s a freshly dug hole under the fence that is just the right size for the boy’s dog to go under and get out of the backyard, and the dog could have been strong enough. Therefore, it is most likely that the dog broke loose from his chain and then dug a hole under the fence and squeezed through.

8. What type of flowers are best for a butterfly garden?
Question:
What type of flowers are best for a butterfly garden?
Investigation:
We planted four different types of flowers and recorded how many butterflies landed on each type of flower.
Investigation
CER is on next slide

9. How would we record this data?

10. Claim: Butterfly gardens should include orange flowers.
Evidence: We planted of different colors in our garden. More butterflies landed on the orange flowers than any other flower.
Reasoning: We researched and found out that most butterflies like bright colored flowers. Our zinnias were bright orange and the butterflies liked them better than the yellow and white flowers we planted. Yellow and white are not bright colors so the butterflies were not attracted to them. Therefore, butterfly gardens should contain zinnias or other flowers that are brightly colored.
Example based on color alone

11. Claim: Butterfly gardens should include zinnia flowers.
Evidence: We planted 4 types of flowers in our garden. More butterflies landed on the zinnia flowers than any other flower.
Reasoning: We researched and found out that butterflies really like flowers with a lot of nectar. Our zinnia flowers are very high in nectar so the butterflies were attracted to them for food. Also, most butterflies like bright colored flowers. Our zinnias were bright orange and the butterflies liked them better than the yellow and white flowers we planted. Therefore, butterfly gardens should contain zinnias or other flowers that are bright and have a lot of nectar.
Example based on nectar production and color

12. Let’s Practice with a Force and Motion Example…

13. Let’s Practice What claim can you make?
We rolled a car down two ramps that were at different heights. Our question was “Does the height of a ramp affect the distance an object will roll?” Our data is below:
Height of Ramp
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
5 cm
90 cm
98 cm
99 cm
96 cm
10 cm
185 cm
188 cm
180 cm
184 cm
Claim: The height of a ramp does affect the distance an object will roll. The higher the ramp, the farther the object will travel.
What claim can you make?

14. What is the Evidence?
Use the information from your data table to support your claim.
Claim: The height of a ramp does affect the distance an object will roll. The higher the ramp, the farther the object will travel.
Evidence: When the marble rolled from the 5 centimeter mark, it traveled approximately 96 centimeters. However, when we raised the ramp to a height of 10 centimeters, it traveled much further. In fact, it almost doubled the distance it traveled to approximately 184 centimeters.

15. Explain your Reasoning
Show your understanding science to explain the results
Use what you know from science to explain your thinking. Support your reasoning with scientific words such as gravity, force, speed, distance, etc.
Claim: The height of a ramp does affect the distance an object will roll. The higher the ramp, the farther the object will travel.
Evidence: When the marble rolled from the 5 centimeter mark, it traveled approximately 96 centimeters. However, when we raised the ramp to a height of 10 centimeters, it traveled much further. In fact, it almost doubled the distance it traveled to approximately 184 centimeters.
Reasoning: We think that the height of a ramp affects the distance an object will roll because, when the ramp gets steeper, the object can rolls down it much faster. Gravity pulls on the object to make it move down the ramp and an object that rolls down a steep ramp gets going faster. When it gets off the ramp, it takes longer to slow down because it has so much speed. So steeper ramps will make objects speed up more and stop slower. That means objects that go down steeper ramps will go further than objects that go down lower ramps.

16. Now it is your turn!
What question do you think the researcher was asking?
Type of Surface
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
Tile
183 cm
189 cm
190 cm
187 cm
Sandpaper
60 cm
59 cm
52 cm
57 cm
Astroturf
20 cm
25 cm
22 cm
Question: Does the type of surface affect the distance an object will travel?
Write a conclusion that includes a claim, evidence, and reasoning.
Check your work to make sure your message is clear and that you used correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

17. And that is the C-E-R way!
Remember…
Scientists have to convince people that their research is correct.
They do this by stating their claim and supporting it with evidence.
Then the scientist teaches the reason it happened that way using scientific principles.
And that is the C-E-R way!

18. Rubric Which May Be Used to Grade Your Conclusions:

19. Examples of CERs

20. 2nd Grade Example

21. 4th Grade Example

22. Is blubber an insulator or a conductor?
Blubber is an insulator. When we placed our hands into ice water, the one that had the “blubber glove” around it did not get as cold as fast as the one that just had the plastic and air around it. Insulators are things that keep energy from passing through them. The blubber keeps the cold from getting to our hand and it keeps the heat from our hand from going into the cold water.
I typed this one because it wouldn’t copy well.