NGSS SEP:
Constructing
Explanations
CER Card Sort
MODS FOR HIGH/LOW
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Teacher Notes
A card sort provides students with meaningful opportunities to work
collaboratively.
In this set students are challenged to figure out statements or questions that
best fit into five categories: Research Question, Claim, Evidence, Reasoning
or Not Needed for four different research topics.
I’ve included three versions of the “evidence” card. The alternative versions
are on a separate page, “Cards for Alternative Sorts” p 6. The cards for
Evidence 1, 2 3 are if you want to give students a hint about the number of
evidence statements they need to find for each research question.
I print out the decks on to cardstock for more durability and make one set
per group of 4-5 students.
Page 7-8 are the answer key for the card sort.
Modifications for lower students
Option A: Students can be given a deck with only four categories (Research
Question, Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning to sort, They can also be given
fewer sets of experiments to sort.
Modifications for higher students
Option A: Have students sort using the Strong Evidence, Weak evidence and
Not Evidence categories. Not all categories will have evidence statements.
The goal here is to have students critically evaluate the strength of the
evidence to support the claim. The discussion and the justification of the
sorted cards is what I use for my formative assessment.
© 2019 Ratelis Science
How does practice
How does the amount
How does the amount
affect being
of sleep a teen gets
of sunlight affect
successful at penalty
affect their grades?
plant growth?
kicks?
The less sleep you
get, the lower your
grades will be.
The more practice
done on penalty kicks
the more you will
score on them.
Plants that get more
sunlight grow heavier
fruits and vegetables
If it is hotter
outside, people tend
to be grouchier
After playing video
games all night and
getting less than 3
hours of sleep, a
student got a 17% on
her math test.
Students who
reported sleeping at
least 7 hours a night
had an average GPA
of 3.21
Students who
Students like to play
reported sleeping at
games and watch
less than 7 hours a
videos on their phones
night had an average
instead of sleeping
GPA of 2.941.
How does
temperature affect
a person’s mood?
Players who did
Players who did not do
penalty kick drills
any penalty kick
three times a week, drills scored 23% of
scored 56% of the
the time on penalty
time on penalty kicks
kicks
© 2019 Ratelis Science
Taller goalies are
better at stopping
penalty kicks.
Players who added
another 30 mins of
penalty kicking
practice to their
training, had a 13%
increase in scoring
A plant grown in 12
In Alaska, where
there can be 19 hours hours of light a day for
2 months had a mass of
of sunlight in the
3.7 kg. A plant grown in
summer, grows world
8 hours of light a day
record breaking
for 2 months had a
vegetables.
mass of 2.8kg
Mushrooms can grow
in the dark without
any sunlight
82% of adults
surveyed reported
feeling more irritable
when the weather
was above 37 C
Police report an 18%
increase in calls for
fights when the
weather rises above
35 C
The hottest
temperature
recorded on Earth
was 56.7 C in Death
Valley, CA
7 out of 20 Students
reported feeling
unhappy when the
weather was 34 C, 2
out of 20 reported
feeling unhappy when
the weather was 25 C
The brain
strengthens neutral
connections during
sleep.
Plants use
photosynthesis to
turn sunlight energy
into stored sugars
(food)
Lack of sleep impairs
alertness and ability
to pay attention.
Plants grown in the
winter, when there is
less daylight tend to
be smaller.
Sport drills are
Hotter weather leads
Practice strengthens designed to focus on a
to dehydration and
muscle memory
player’s weakness to
difficulty sleeping.
help improve skills.
© 2019 Ratelis Science
CLAIM
EVIDENCE
REASONING
CLAIM
EVIDENCE
REASONING
CLAIM
EVIDENCE
REASONING
RESEARCH
QUESTION
RESEARCH
QUESTION
RESEARCH
QUESTION
NOT
NEEDED
NOT
NEEDED
NOT
NEEDED
© 2019 Ratelis Science
Cards for Alternative Versions
EVIDENCE
1
EVIDENCE
2
EVIDENCE
3
EVIDENCE
1
EVIDENCE
2
EVIDENCE
3
EVIDENCE
1
EVIDENCE
2
EVIDENCE
3
Strong
EVIDENCE
NOT
Evidence
Weak
EVIDENCE
Strong
EVIDENCE
NOT
Evidence
Strong
EVIDENCE
NOT
Evidence
© 2019 Ratelis Science
Weak
EVIDENCE
Weak
EVIDENCE
How does the amount of
sleep a teen gets
affect their grades?
How does practice
affect being
successful at penalty
kicks?
How does the amount of
sunlight affect plant
growth?
The more practice
How does temperature The less sleep you get,
done on penalty kicks
affect a person’s
the lower your grades
the more you will score
mood?
will be.
on them.
Plants that get more
sunlight grow heavier
fruits and vegetables
If it is hotter outside,
people tend to be
grouchier
After playing video
games all night and
getting less than 3
hours of sleep, a
student got a 17% on
her math test.
Students who reported Students who reported Students like to play
sleeping at least 7
sleeping at less than 7 games and watch videos
hours a night had an
hours a night had an
on their phones instead
average GPA of 3.21
average GPA of 2.941.
of sleeping
Players who did penalty
Players who did not do
kick drills three times
any penalty kick drills
a week, scored 56% of
scored 23% of the
the time on penalty
time on penalty kicks
kicks
© 2019 Ratelis Science
Taller goalies are
better at stopping
penalty kicks.
Players who added
another 30 mins of
penalty kicking
practice to their
training, had a 13%
increase in scoring
A plant grown in 12
In Alaska, where there hours of light a day for
can be 19 hours of
2 months had a mass of
sunlight in the summer, 3.7 kg. A plant grown in
grows world record
8 hours of light a day
breaking vegetables.
for 2 months had a
mass of 2.8kg
82% of adults
surveyed reported
feeling more irritable
when the weather was
above 37 C
Plants grown in the
winter, when there is
less daylight tend to
be smaller.
Mushrooms can grow in
the dark without any
sunlight
Police report an 18%
increase in calls for
fights when the
weather rises above
35 C
17 out of 20 Students
reported feeling
The hottest
unhappy when the
temperature recorded
weather was 34 C, 2
on Earth was 56.7 C in
out of 20 reported
Death Valley, CA
feeling unhappy when
the weather was 25 C
The brain
strengthens neutral
connections during
sleep.
Plants use
photosynthesis to
turn sunlight energy
into stored sugars
(food)
Lack of sleep impairs
alertness and ability
to pay attention.
Sport drills are
Hotter weather leads
Practice strengthens designed to focus on a
to dehydration and
muscle memory
player’s weakness to
difficulty sleeping.
help improve skills.
© 2019 Ratelis Science
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