Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) data stories prompt students to interpret a graph in terms of a written claim, and then explain how specific features of the graph led them to make their claim, or how it supports a provided claim. 

Goal: Prompt students to state a claim, and explain how features of a graph support the claim. 

Example 1: Tuva Data Story Adaptation to Environmental Change     Two box plots show the distribution of measurements of beak depth (how big the beak is) for finches before and after a year of drought in the Galapagos Islands. Students are given the following prompts: What claim would you make in comparing the 1976 and 1978 populations? How does the evidence support your claim? What could the finch data mean for today’s wildlife populations?

Implementation ideas:  Assign Claim, Evidence, Reasoning data stories as straightforward practice for making (or evaluating) claims, linking them to specific features of a graph, and connecting the claim to wider meaning or implications. 

Related resources: 

McNeill, K., & Krajcik, J., 2012. Supporting Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing. Pearson.

Example 2: Tuva Data Story Where do Earthquakes and Volcanoes Occur? Students review two maps for earthquake and volcano locations and are given a claim to evaluate, based on evidence in the maps.     Looking closely at the earthquake map, I notice that where large earthquakes tend to occur___. Looking closely at the volcano map, I notice that where volcanoes tend to occur is ___. A student made the following claim: “Large earthquakes and volcanoes occur in the same locations.” What is your response to this claim? (Refer to evidence from the maps to justify your response to the claim.)

The framework

Claim-Evidence-Reasoning supports students in constructing scientific explanations of what they understand (McNeill & Martin, 2010). Data is the currency of science, so it is the linchpin of all three parts:

• Claim — what you understand, or found, as you explored. A statement that answers the question.
• Evidence — the specific features of the data that support the claim.
• Reasoning — why that evidence supports that claim, and not another.