Monday CER, Listening Brings Moments of Joy (294)

Today in class we discussed CER. Claim, Evidence, Reasoning in science. How to make a claim based on a question. For instance How do plants make food? Claim - Plants make food by the process of Photosynthesis. Then we discussed how to collect data, evidence and analyze it. How to collect valid data. Unbiased data. For our example, we would conduct experiments, read science articles about the subject etc. Finally, reasoning- the most challenging of the steps.

In this case the reasoning section would be organized around the fact that plants make food by the process of photosynthesis and how we know. A restating of the claim and connecting it with the evidence. So it would be something like, in experiments with elodea, water and a test tube we see bubbles rising if we place the test tube and submerged plant close to light. 

We also know that through observation that stomata open allowing gas exchange to occur, and we can also see through laboratory experiments that plants convert this inbound gas, oxygen into glucose. A complicated yet measurable and observable process. Sounds complicated doesn't it. I knew there had to be a more concise, easier way to demonstrate the process of writing CER's in science.

So I used three television commercials (all shorter than 30 seconds) and had students watch them two times each. Once to write their claim- based on their observations and the second to collect their evidence from the commercial, how they can support their claim.

The first commercial was a Dorito's commercial where a Great Dane is caught in the middle of a crime. He is seen burying a cat collar, the witness compares the collar to a missing cat poster nearby, in a split second, only to be then confronted by the dog. Who is holding a bag of Dorito's with a sticky note that say - "you didn't see nuttn'". Needless to say the cat owner denies knowing where the cat is.

The second commercial is of a little girl, around five years of age, presenting evidence (yes she says evidence) to convince us her dad is a space alien. He speaks a weird language (gargling after brushing his teeth), he drinks green drinks (kale smoothies), dresses weird (a futuristic bike outfit), says he comes from Albuquerque (a nonsensical place) and that he drives a space ship (An Audi). 

This was a fun one- I had them write a CER based on what she would write. Actually, legitimate evidence but of course misunderstood. Then I had them write a CER that they could use to convince her of the truth. There were a lot of funny ones. They got really creative.

The last commercial was a famous one- most had seen it. What happened to Sheryl's She Shed? A husband and wife are talking to their State Farm insurance broker asking if their She Shed was covered. The student's debated a long time on this one- did he burn it down? Did she burn it down? Was it actually struck by lightning as her husband claims. They both acted a little suspicious and no one actually agreed.

But in the end CER's are now understood. They discovered that opinion matters, that we interpret things differently. That evidence can be biased. That eye witness testimony might not always be correct. We see what we want to see. Most importantly they understand that a lack of evidence does not mean evidence. It is important to collect viable data- supported data and keep an open mind.