CER Superpower! 

We build your CER superpower to make a strong scientific explanation. An explanation needs:

C: A claim, often an if-then prediction or conclusion to be investigated.

E: Some evidence, which is an observation or numerical data that can be used to support or reject the claim. If the evidence comes from an experiment, the experiment is repeatable with the same results world-wide. Repeatable experiments set science aside from other subjects such as history or English.

R: Reasoning, usually a cause-effect bridge between the claim and the evidence that ties everything together. 

These card matching games help you sort out the difference between each of these. Try playing each game twice and see if you can improve your score the second time around. This takes practice, and you will continue to develop your CER skills through this and the next unit, and through middle and high school.

The first CER game has "training wheels" to help you tell the difference between claim, evidence, and reasoning.

The second game is more challenging, as we have no training wheels. Some "if-then" statements are claims, and some "if-then" statements are reasoning. To tell the difference, see if the statement has the bridging words that hint that it is the reasoning that connects the claim to the evidence.

Now that you have a clearer idea of what these words mean, we will work towards writing a CER-type explanation at the end of the next unit. For the rest of this unit, we will dig into some family trees.