Implementing Claim, Evidence and

Reasoning (CER) into your

Chemistry Classroom
Anne Schmidt
Bay Port High School & Bellin College
Email: anneschm@hssdschools.org

Twitter: @schmidtchemist

YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/AnneSchmidt
 CER Presentation Key Points
1. Start with a Question
2. Definition
3. Flowchart
4. Student Benefits
5. Example A
6. Example B
7. Example C
8. Other Examples of Questions
9. Helpful Tools for Group Collaboration
10. Sources Referenced
CER Starts with Question!
Question (Guiding Question) - A question based on phenomena or lab
experience that the teacher wants students to answer with a Claim
that has Evidence to support the Reasoning used to answer the
question.
Examples of Guiding Question in Chemistry:
1. How does decreasing the volume of a gas affect the particles?
2. What is the identity of the unknown solution?
3. Why is glycerin added to oxalic acid in a beehive?
4. When is a solid ionic compound soluble in water?
Claim
Claim is a statement that answers the
question with no evidence, explanation
or reasoning. Does not include because!

Evidence Evidence is the quantitative or qualitative

data that supports the claim

Reasoning Reasoning is an explanation of why and

how the evidence supports the claim by
using scientific rules, concepts and
definitions.
 CERCER Flowchart
Flowchart Order
REASONING EVIDENCE

CLAIM
Explanation Data

Answer
REASONING EVIDENCE
 How do I think CER benefits your
students?
1. Improves Laboratory Reports
2. Improves Essay Writing & FRQ
3. Improves Exam Scores
4. Improves Problem Solving Abilities
5. Improves Cooperative Discussions
6. Improves Social Media Literacy
 Example A:
Burning Steel Wool vs Ethanol
Question
Why does the mass reading
increase or decrease for
different types of burning
(combustion) reactions?
Claim
Oxygen atoms in the air react
with the starting material to
produce either solid, gaseous or
liquid products which then
creates an increase or decrease
in mass reading on the balance.
Evidence
The mass of the iron (steel wool) increases shown by the the mass
reading changing from 1.80g to 1.95 g. The mass of ethanol decreases
in mass reading going from 1.80g to 0.00g. The iron burning had a
obvious solid product whereas the ethanol had gaseous product(s).
Reasoning
Burning/combustion reactions all have oxygen from the air reacting with
the starting material. Oxygen atoms were added to the iron to create an
iron oxide solid product which increases the mass reading due the
additional oxygen atoms bonded to the iron. The ethanol reaction is a
combustion of a hydrocarbon which creates carbon dioxide gas and
water vapor that are then released into the air which causes the mass
reading to decrease during this reaction.
 Example B:
Magnesium reacting with HCl
Possible Questions:
1. Why do the balloons contain different volumes of gas? Claim
2. What is the limiting and excess reactant in this Answer to the question
reaction?
3. How do you calculate the volume of gas produced? Evidence
4. Why is the temperature in each flask different? Qualitative or quantitative data
5. What caused the amount of baking soda required to be
different in order to neutralize the acid?
Reasoning
6. Where does the gas created come from? Scientific rules, concepts or
definitions
Example C:
Natural Food Dyes as pH Indicators
My Experiment Idea:
Use vernier pH meters and graphical analysis to titrate strong acid with
strong base. Use one dye color per group creating four groups. Find if it
would be a good choice to signal the endpoint of the titration. Repeat with
weak acid with strong base and again with strong acid with weak base.
Question
Would any of the colors of natural food dye make an appropriate indicator to signal
the endpoint of a strong acid/strong base, weak acid/strong base, or strong acid/weak
base titration?
Claim Evidence Reasoning
 Other Example Questions :
Phenomena or Experiments
1. How does “The Heat Solution” reusable hot pack work?
2. Why do “Colored Candles” emit different colors when they burn?
3. What causes different dyes in black markers to be water soluble or not?
 Helpful Tools for Group
Collaboration
Digital Tools:
● Padlet https://padlet.com/
● Jamboard https://workspace.google.com/products/jamboard/

Handheld Tools:
● Post it Notes
● White boards
● Sidewalk Chalk
● Large Flip Chart Paper
 Sources Referenced
1. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/science-inquiry-claim-evidence-reasoning-eric-brunsell

2. https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/writing-instruction/claim-evidence-reasoning-cer

3. https://www.chemedx.org/article/implementing-claim-evidence-reasoning-framework-chemistry-class
room

4. https://www.sciencelessonsthatrock.com/blog/category/literacy

5. http://hgms.psd202.org/documents/scolsant/1535034077.pdf

6. Paul Anderson CER Video on YouTube

7. Allison McMahon Twitter Post