Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) for any article

Directions for teachers:
At the end of a scientific or engineering investigation, a claim or conclusion is made about the question or problem explored. A successful claim is supported by sound, relevant evidence or data collected and analyzed during a study, and by reasoning that logically explains why the evidence supports the claim based on known scientific concepts.

This discussion will focus on identifying a claim reported in any Science News or Science News Explores article and evaluating its supporting evidence and reasoning. Select a news article from the Science News archive (www.sciencenews.org) or Science News Explores archive (www.snexplores.org) that relates to a concept you are teaching in class. Or have students use a hard copy magazine or the digital archive to choose an article that interests them. Note that Science News and Science News Explores produce a variety of article types. News stories generally cover the findings from one or two similar scientific studies. Feature stories are longer than news articles and generally present a scientific theme emerging from and supported by multiple scientific studies. All online articles contain linked primary source citations, and print articles are separated into news and feature sections.

Either for homework or in class, ask students to read a Science News or Science News Explores article. Have students split into groups of three or four and use the template below to analyze the claim, evidence and reasoning of the scientific study highlighted by an article. If needed, review the concepts of the claims, evidence, reasoning (CER) model and let students discuss and answer the questions.

Example answers using the Science News article “The brain preserves maps of missing hands for years” are given in the CER Teacher Example download above.

Directions for students:
At the end of every scientific or engineering investigation, a claim or conclusion is made about the question or problem explored. A successful claim is supported by sound, relevant evidence or data collected and analyzed from a study, and by reasoning that logically explains why the evidence supports the claim, based on known scientific concepts. Use the article selected, or select a news article of your choice from the Science News archive (www.sciencenews.org) or Science News Explores archive (www.snexplores.org), and read and review it using the prompts below.

Identify
Use the article to discuss and answer the following questions.

1. A claim is an assertion of something as a fact, which may or may not be supported by evidence. In a scientific study, a claim is the conclusion that is made about the question or problem explored. What is one scientific claim made by the scientists as described in the article?

2. Claims often serve as answers to questions. Even if it’s not explicitly stated in the article, what scientific question might the scientists’ claim attempt to answer?

3. Evidence is the scientific data analyzed to support a claim. What information does the article give as evidence?

4. Reasoning is the explanation of why the evidence supports the claim, based on known scientific concepts. What reasoning is given in the article?

Evaluate
Use the questions below to evaluate the scientific argument reported in the article.

1. How well does the claim answer the scientific question you identified? Explain your reasoning.

2. Does the evidence provided do an adequate job of supporting the claim scientifically? Why or why not? What additional evidence could be given or explored to support the claim?

3. Does the reasoning clearly link the evidence to the claim using known scientific principles? Explain and highlight any missing links in the reasoning.