Arguing From Evidence in Middle School Science

Book excerpt: Teaching your students to think like scientists starts here! If you’ve ever struggled to help students make scientific arguments from evidence, this practical, easy-to-use activity book is for you! Give your students the critical scientific practice today′s science standards require. You’ll discover strategies and activities to effectively engage students in arguments about competing data sets, opposing scientific ideas, applying evidence to support specific claims, and more. 24 ready-to-implement activities drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences help teachers to: Align lessons to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Engage students in the 8 NGSS science and engineering practices Establish rich, productive classroom discourse Facilitate reading and writing strategies that align to the Common Core State Standards Extend and employ argumentation and modeling strategies Clarify the difference between argumentation and explanation Includes assessment guidance and extension activities. Learn to teach the rational side of science the fun way with this simple and straightforward guide!