Science claim evidence reasoning worksheet

CER is a powerful framework used in science education to help students develop critical thinking and analytical skills. Standing for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning, it provides a structured approach to formulating scientific arguments and explanations. By using CER, students can effectively analyze data from scientific investigations and construct well-supported conclusions.

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.”