WRITING AND
ARGUMENTATION IN
SECONDARY SCIENCE:
DAY 1
WELCOME!
AT LAST!!!
February 6,
2014
“LITERACY IS THE LITMUS
PAPER OF THOUGHT…THE
VERY CENTER OF
SCHOOLING.” ~TED SIZER
In the context of teaching science,
what does this quote mean to
you?
WHAT DOES ARGUMENT MEAN IN OUR
EVERYDAY LANGUAGE?
ARGUMENT CLINIC
ARGUMENT IN SCIENCE
In science, an argument is used…
“to promote as much understanding of a
situation as possible and to persuade
colleagues of the validity of a specific idea….[it]
is ideally about sharing, processing, and
learning about ideas” (NRC 2008, p 89)
EXPLORING ARGUMENT IN THE
CLASSROOM
 Title, Author
 Definition of Scientific
Argument
 What does argument look
like in the classroom?
(General Structure)
 Specific classroom
example
 Best quote from the
article
 Recommendation: Read
this article! It’s awesome
because… (or opposite)
A NEW MODEL FOR THE PRACTICE OF
SCIENCE
ORCHESTRA STUDENTS ARE
MUSICIANS;
STUDENTS ON THE
BASKETBALL TEAM ARE
ATHLETES;
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DO
OUR SCIENCE STUDENTS
HAVE TO BE SCIENTISTS?
WHY IS ARGUMENT
IMPORTANT IN THE
SCIENCE CLASSROOM?
Write
Around
BREAK
NEXT GENERATION
SCIENCE STANDARDS
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
(NGSS)
ARCHITECTURE OF THE NGSS: PERFORMANCE
EXPECTATIONS
Performance
Expectations:
•These describe what a
student should be able
to do at the end of a
unit
•They are not meant to
be lesson sequences or
required activities
ARCHITECTURE OF THE NGSS
Disciplinary
Core Ideas
Science and
Engineering
Practices
Crosscutting
Concepts
ARCHITECTURE OF THE NGSS: CONNECTIONS
Connections to:
•Other content/gradebands within the NGSS
•Common Core State
Standards for
ELA/Literacy and
Mathematics
NGSS RESOURCES
http://www.nextg
enscience.org/nex
t-generationscience-standards
OUR SHIFT IN THINKING…
From thinking that one
scientific method fits all
To t h i n king a bo ut h ow to e n g a ge o ur
s t ude n t s i n t h e pra c t i c e s o f
s c i en tists
1. Asking questions and defining
problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out
investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and
computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and
designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from
evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating and
communicating
information
OUR SHIFT IN THINKING…
From thinking that “handson” science is ESSENTIAL
To thinking that engaging
students EVERY DAY in scientific
practices and thinking is
POWERFUL
A NEW MODEL FOR THE PRACTICE OF
SCIENCE
SHIFTING OUR PRACTICE…
Next Generation Science Standards
Science & Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions and defining
problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out
investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and
computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and
designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from
evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating and
communicating information
From…
How am I going to
teach this?
To…
How are students going
to learn about this?
WRITING AND ARGUMENTATION
Next Generation Science Standards
Science & Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions and defining
problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out
investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and
computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and
designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from
evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating and
communicating information
Which Science and
Engineering Practices
(SEP) best support
writing and
argumentation?
WRITING AND ARGUMENTATION
According to the
SEP, what are
the hallmarks of
a high quality
argument at
your grade
level?
GETTING STARTED
Claim – Evidence – Reasoning (CER)
CLAIM: What do you know?
EVIDENCE: How do you know that?
REASONING: Why does your evidence support
your claim?
CLAIM – EVIDENCE – REASONING (CER)
 What grade level?
 Rewrite the student
response so it reflects
a higher grade band.
 How might the task
be changed to
produce a higher level
of student work?
SO HOW DO WE PUT IT
ALL TOGETHER SO THAT
IT’S MEANINGFUL FOR
OUR STUDENTS?
When procedures are uniform for all students,
where data are similar, and where claims
match expected outcomes, then the reportage
of results and conclusions often seems
meaningless to students and lacks
opportunities for deeper student learning
about the topic or for developing scientific
reasoning skills. (If everyone gets the same
answer why ask the question? How
meaningful is this type of experience? Is this
just another school exercise done to them ?)
~Hand, Norton-Meier, Staker, and Bintz
When procedures are uniform for all students,
where data are similar, and where claims
match expected outcomes, then the reportage
of results and conclusions often seems
meaningless to students and lacks
opportunities for deeper student learning
about the topic or for developing scientific
reasoning skills. (If everyone gets the same
answer why ask the question? How
meaningful is this type of experience? Is this
just another school exercise done to them ?)
~Hand, Norton-Meier, Staker, and Bintz
We need to change our
thinking with respect to
experimentation!
EXPERIMENTATION
Conventional
Separate Unit on the Scientific
Method
Then spend the rest of the year
learning content through text
resources or telling.
EXPERIMENTATION
Conventional
?
Students read the text to learn
vocabulary and background
information about clouds.
Students then observe the cloud
in a jar that confirms what they
already “know.”
EXPERIMENTATION
Shifts in Practice for NGSS
?
Students ask questions about
cloud formation and do some
investigating on their own.
Students search for answers to
their questions as they read the
text.
5E LEARNING CYCLE
5E Model is based from the SCIS Model of
Instruction by researchers Atkins and Karplus
in 1967.
5E Model was originally proposed by BSCS
(Biological Science Curriculum Study) in the
late1980’s.
5E LEARNING CYCLE
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
http://www.bscs.org/bscs-5e-instructional-model
HOW DOES ARGUMENT FIT INTO THE 5E
LEARNING CYCLE?
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
http://www.bscs.org/bscs-5e-instructional-model
ENGAGE
Draw a diagram that
shows how both
people can see the
light.
What ideas or
questions do
you have
about how
light travels?
EXPLORE
What can you
find out about
the way light
travels?
What if you
have 2 light
sources?
EXPLORE
How is this the
same? Different?
What image will
you see?
EXPLORE
What can you
find out now?
EXPLORE
How is this the
same? Different?
What will you
see on the
screen?
EXPLAIN
Activity
Observations
How do these
observations
help answer the
focus question?
Imagine that you have a pair of Magic Science
Glasses. When you look at light with your Magic
Science Glasses, you see the particles that make
up light.
How does light travel?
Light particles…
…travel in straight lines
…travel in all directions
…are invisibly small
…travel at high speed
Put on your Magic Glasses and “look” at the
light particles that we’ve been
experimenting with. Use what you see
about how these particles are behaving and
what they look like to explain all the
patterns we noticed in our experiments.
Use a whiteboard to create a representation
that answers the focus question:
How does light travel?
EXPLAIN
Activity
Observations
How do these
observations
help answer the
focus question?
DEVELOPING A SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT
Engage
Explore
Explain
LUNCH
TASKS FOR
ARGUMENTATION
JEREMY’S VACATION
Using the data provided, create a representation that will help
you show which city Jeremy should visit and at what time of
year (spring, fall, winter, or summer).
You may represent your data in any way you choose.
You may choose to represent all or only some of the data, as
long as you can use your representation to justify your
recommendations for Jeremy’s vacation (where to go and when
to go there).
From Cartier, Smith, Stein, and Ross, 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive
Task-Based Discussions in Science, NSTA Press, 2013, page 3.
COMPARING 2 TASKS
Task A
Create a bar graph that
shows the average
monthly high and low
temperatures in each
city. Identify where and
when Jeremy should go
on vacation.
Task B
Using the data provided,
create a representation
that will help you show
which city Jeremy should
visit and at what time of
year (spring, fall, winter,
or summer).
From Cartier, Smith, Stein, and Ross, 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive
Task-Based Discussions in Science, NSTA Press, 2013, page 3.
TASKS THAT SUPPORT ARGUMENTATION
 High cognitive
demand
 Students engage
in multiple ways
that are
productive
 Students produce
artifacts
Student
artifacts
Task
Science
concept
T YPES OF TASKS
Experimentation Tasks
Data Representation, Analysis, and
Interpretation Tasks
Explanation Tasks
From Cartier, Smith, Stein, and Ross, 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive
Task-Based Discussions in Science, NSTA Press, 2013, page 3.
FEATURES OF LOW AND HIGH COGNITIVE
DEMAND TASKS
What do you notice?
What do you
wonder?
From Cartier, Smith, Stein, and Ross, 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive
Task-Based Discussions in Science, NSTA Press, 2013, page 3.
LOW OR HIGH COGNITIVE DEMAND?
How might you increase
the cognitive demand of
From Cartier, Smith, Stein, and Ross, 5 Practices
for Orchestrating Productive
this task?
Task-Based Discussions in Science, NSTA Press, 2013, page 3.
BEFORE WE MEET AGAIN…
Develop a learning cycles or task that provides
opportunities for argumentation.
Use the Low/High Cognitive Demand Chart to
guide your work
Bring examples of student work (written work,
photos of whiteboards, etc…) to our next
meeting on March 13!