Claim Evidence and Reasoning for Young Scientists
Use observations to explain science ideas
Claim Evidence and Reasoning for Young Scientists
Use observations to explain science ideas
Science - Grade 2-3
- 1
A claim is what a scientist thinks is true. Evidence is what a scientist observes or measures. Reasoning explains how the evidence supports the claim. Match each word to its meaning: claim, evidence, reasoning.
Think of claim as the answer, evidence as the facts, and reasoning as the because part.
A claim is what a scientist thinks is true. Evidence is what a scientist observes or measures. Reasoning explains how the evidence supports the claim. - 2
Mia put one plant near a sunny window and one plant in a dark closet. After one week, the sunny plant was taller and greener. Write a claim about what plants need.
A good claim is that plants need sunlight to grow well. The sunny plant grew taller and greener than the plant kept in the dark closet. - 3
Choose the best evidence for this claim: Ice melts faster in a warm room. A. The ice cube in the warm room became water after 20 minutes. B. The ice cube was cold. C. Ice is fun to touch.
Good evidence uses an observation or measurement.
The best evidence is A. The ice cube in the warm room became water after 20 minutes, which shows that it melted. - 4
A class tested three toy cars on the same ramp. Car A rolled 5 feet, Car B rolled 8 feet, and Car C rolled 3 feet. Make a claim about which car rolled the farthest.
The claim is that Car B rolled the farthest. The evidence is that Car B rolled 8 feet, which is farther than 5 feet and 3 feet. - 5
Read the sentence: The rock sank to the bottom of the cup. Is this sentence a claim, evidence, or reasoning?
Evidence is something you can see, hear, touch, smell, measure, or count.
The sentence is evidence because it tells what was observed during the test. - 6
Nico says, The ball is made of rubber because it bounces high when I drop it. Underline the evidence in his sentence.
The evidence is that the ball bounces high when he drops it. This is an observation Nico can use to support his claim. - 7
A student claims that magnets can pull on some metals. The student observes that a magnet picks up a paper clip but does not pick up a plastic button. Write reasoning that connects the evidence to the claim.
Use the word because to connect the evidence to the claim.
The reasoning is that the magnet picked up the metal paper clip but not the plastic button, so magnets can pull on some metals but not all materials. - 8
Which sentence is a claim? A. The worm moved away from the light. B. Worms prefer dark places. C. I put a worm in a tray with a light side and a dark side.
The claim is B. Worms prefer dark places. It tells what someone thinks is true based on the investigation. - 9
A class observed birds at a feeder. They counted 2 birds at 9:00, 6 birds at 10:00, and 4 birds at 11:00. Write one piece of evidence from the observations.
Pick one fact from the numbers given.
One piece of evidence is that the class counted 6 birds at 10:00. This is evidence because it is a counted observation. - 10
Lena claims that the blue towel dries water better than the red towel. The blue towel soaked up 5 spoonfuls of water. The red towel soaked up 2 spoonfuls of water. Write evidence that supports Lena's claim.
The evidence is that the blue towel soaked up 5 spoonfuls of water, while the red towel soaked up only 2 spoonfuls. This supports the claim that the blue towel dries water better. - 11
Kai says, The seed with water sprouted because seeds need water to begin growing. Is the part after because evidence or reasoning?
Reasoning explains the science idea behind the evidence.
The part after because is reasoning. It explains why the evidence supports the idea that water helps seeds sprout. - 12
Write a full CER using this information. Claim: A spoon made of metal feels colder than a spoon made of wood. Evidence: Students touched both spoons and said the metal spoon felt colder. Add reasoning.
Your reasoning should explain why the evidence makes sense.
A full CER is: The metal spoon feels colder than the wooden spoon. Students touched both spoons and said the metal spoon felt colder. This may happen because metal can move heat away from your hand faster than wood. - 13
Jada says, My claim is that paper towels are stronger when they are dry. My evidence is that the dry paper towel held 10 pennies, but the wet paper towel held only 3 pennies. Write one sentence of reasoning.
The reasoning is that the dry paper towel held more pennies before tearing, so it was stronger than the wet paper towel in this test.