CER

Here’s how it works:

1. Claim: This is a statement or answer to a scientific question. It’s what you think or what you’ve found out. For example, “Plants grow faster in sunlight.”

2. Evidence: These are the facts, data, or observations that support your claim. It’s important that evidence is gathered through experiments, observations, or research. For the above claim, evidence could be, “In a two-week experiment, plants in sunlight grew three inches, while those in the dark grew only one inch.”

3. Reasoning: This links your evidence to your claim. It’s the scientific principle or understanding that explains why your evidence supports your claim. For our example, the reasoning might be, “Photosynthesis, which is necessary for plant growth, requires sunlight. The plants in the sunlight had more opportunity for photosynthesis, hence they grew more.”

Claim (Answer the Question Clearly)

What to Include in a Claim:

✔ Restate important parts of the question to make your claim clear.
✔ Provide a concise answer based on the investigation or data.
✔ Avoid explanations—just state what you know.

Sentence Starters for Claims:

• The data shows that…
• The results support the idea that…
• Based on the evidence, I conclude that…
• The experiment demonstrated that…

 Evidence (Support Your Claim with Data or Observations)

What to Include in Evidence:

✔ Source of evidence (experiment, graph, data table, or observations).
✔ Quantitative data (numbers) or qualitative data (descriptions).
✔ Be specific—avoid vague phrases like “there was a change.”

Sentence Starters for Evidence:

• According to the data, [describe key result]…
• In the experiment, we observed that…
• The graph/table shows that…
• The data supports the claim because…

 Reasoning (Explain Why the Evidence Supports the Claim)

What to Include in Reasoning:

✔ Scientific principles or background knowledge that explain the evidence.
✔ Connect the data to the scientific concept behind it.
✔ Clearly explain why the evidence proves the claim.

Sentence Starters for Reasoning:

• This happens because…
• This is explained by the scientific principle that…
• Since [scientific concept], the results make sense because…
• This connects to [scientific idea] because…

Final Tip: Check Your CER Response!

✅ Does the claim answer the question clearly?
✅ Does the evidence directly support the claim with specific data?
✅ Does the reasoning explain why the evidence is scientifically valid?

• Develops Critical Thinking: CER helps students think more deeply about how they draw conclusions from data.
• Improves Communication: Students learn how to construct and articulate logical, evidence-based arguments.
• Encourages Scientific Inquiry: CER mirrors the process scientists use, fostering a better understanding of scientific methods.