Arguments Welcome!

 

“Curiosity—the desire to explain how the world works—drives the questions we ask and the investigations we conduct.”  - Kerry Emmanuel, MIT

Explorations in science and engineering should have purpose and lead to conclusions and claims. Scientists make claims all the time, but for their claims to be believable, they must be supported by evidence and reasoning. An effective tool for working through this type of scientific explanation is the C-E-R framework (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) and it offers the perfect opportunity for fourth-graders to begin thinking and communicating like scientists. 

The C-E-R framework is a valuable inquiry method that promotes the development of critical thinking skills where students not only evaluate their own arguments, but the claims and arguments of others. Students learn to answer scientific questions by stating what they believe to be true and then providing evidentiary data and rationale to support their belief. Utilizing this practice in science instruction, as well as across all disciplines, increases rigor by incorporating a greater cognitive complexity of thinking. For elementary students who are first learning to engage in scientific argumentation, C-E-R provides a developmentally appropriate approach toward how students connect their experiences with previously learned content, boosting their scientific literacy. If it sounds like a tall task to you, it’s because it is. 

Unknowingly, students began engaging in this process a couple of weeks ago when they first started exploring the various structures and functions of plants and animals. Their explorations inspired curiosity about the subject and a desire to analyze factual information, make connections, and evaluate the meaning and implication of it. A great deal of time and thought was spent crafting logical and concise claims, identifying relevant and reliable evidence, and understanding the importance of explaining how the evidence supports their claims. This exercise provoked an intense and meaningful reflection on what they had learned. It provided students with the practice necessary to draw and support appropriate conclusions and the foundation to participate in effective and high-quality argumentation. 

Students ultimately crafted their own C-E-R argument about an investigation related to moss and were asked to argue whether or not they believed it was a plant. It was fascinating to observe students effectively evaluate the information they were given and synthesize it with their schema to make a claim and defend it. We spent some time as a whole class afterward discussing the merits of their arguments, identifying any potential holes, sharing the various methods as to how they analyzed and evaluated the data and information they were given, and how they arrived at their conclusions. It was an incredibly meaningful discussion that helped shaped their ideas not only about the topic, but the perspectives and methodology behind organizing their thinking and assembling it into the C-E-R framework. 

This week’s guest bloggers reflect on this experience. Enjoy. 

I think that reasoning is the most important part of a C-E-R because it explains how the evidence supports your claim and makes it more clear to understand what you are trying to prove. - Flash4

During our group discussion I learned that your claim has to be clear and simple. You don't want to say "I think this or I think that". You want to be sure. - PickleKitty

You can use the C-E-R framework for anything, including math, social studies, and books you are reading. You can also use C-E-R to make an argument for getting a pet. Hmmm... that gives me an idea...  - Cheesy

In my opinion, I think the most important part of an argument is the claim. The claim is the foundation of your argument. The evidence and reasoning are useless without it. Your claim tells your audience what you are trying to prove.  - Choney

I think that reasoning is the most important part of an argument because reasoning is explaining why you think what you think. It breaks down the argument so that you can see the evidence more clearly.  - Wolverine12

I think the most important part of an argument is the reasoning because your audience might not know how your evidence supports your claim if you don't explain it clearly.  - CHEETO111

I think that evidence is the most important part of an argument because without factual evidence, you can't support your claim and it's not believable and your argument is not believable.   - Pickle03

I think the claim is the most important part of an argument because you are making a statement about what you know and want to prove.  - Strawberry

Another example of when you can use the C-E-R framework is if you are a lawyer. For example, if you are a lawyer, you need to defend your client with a claim, evidence, and reasoning. If I were a lawyer and my client was accused of stealing a pencil from the classroom, I would say something like this: "My client is not guilty. The classroom got new pencils and Mrs. Valzania said that they could take a pencil if they needed one. This proves that my client was allowed to take a pencil and therefore my client is not guilty."  - Pineapple

When we were learning about moss and had to investigate whether or not it was a plant, it was very hard to do because there were a lot of reasons some people thought it was and a lot of reasons people thought it wasn't. Kids had to think, and think, and think. We had to have a discussion about the evidence and how we could analyze it to make a decision. It was really hard but also really fun.  - Galaxy 

If you use the C-E-R framework to write a strong argument, it can be a very powerful thing.  - Lightning24

Sources:

Brunsell, Eric. “Designing Science Inquiry: Claim + Evidence + Reasoning = Explanation.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 25 Sept. 2012 

Cusamano, Jennifer, and David Janosz. “Using a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Platform With Next Generation Science Standards.” McGraw Hill Education.