KnowAtom's Blog

Key Learning Objectives:

• What is a CER Conclusion
• What Makes a Complete Conclusion
• How to Write a CER Conclusion
• How You Set Up Debriefing and Sharing Conclusions Matters
• Tools: Motivation and Using Checkpoints and Concept Maps to Debrief Thinking

The focus of this article is on forming claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) conclusions and debriefing in NGSS Science - the fifth and last step in the KnowAtom lesson routine, and an important way to finish each lesson. When using the KnowAtom lesson routine, students discover phenomena, discuss it, and then try to answer a question or solve a problem related to it. With hands-on science instruction, students have the opportunity to be scientists and engineers, while they respond to real world problems and work together to solve them.

If you asked a child if they wanted to sit down and read and/or memorize a list of scientific facts, what do you think they would say? You’ve probably experienced this exact scenario with your students at some point. Being the awesome teacher that you are, you probably found a way to make this activity seem more exciting than that, but it likely still involved some hard work on your part. On the other hand, what if you asked that same child to design and perform cool experiments using everyday objects along with tools they’ve never used before? You would probably be greeted with a much more positive response, right?

Did you know there are many aspects of the Army and Navy that use science, math, and engineering to develop new technologies? We explore some really fun careers with the military that don’t involve missiles.

We hop aboard a Carnival cruise ship to see how science and math are vital in helping a captain and crew run a tight ship for all onboard.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your trash after the truck hauls it away from your curb? Well we’re going to show you how garbage can turn into powerful electricity brought right back to your home!