Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Slides for 6th Grade Science
A slide-deck presentation for 6th graders that teaches how to build a scientific argument using claim, evidence, and reasoning, framed around a playful case about an alien dad and a bag of Doritos. It follows a 5E arc with notice-and-wonder prompts and speaker notes, making it well suited to a whole-class lesson of about 45 minutes that builds scientific writing and argumentation skills.
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this deck as a whole-class launch for a unit on scientific argumentation, pausing after the engage slides so students can share their own "prove it" moments before you move into the claim-evidence-reasoning framework.
- Discussion question: What makes a piece of evidence strong enough to support a claim, and how is a good observation different from an opinion?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide a printed claim-evidence-reasoning organizer with sentence starters ("I claim that...", "The evidence shows...", "This supports my claim because...") so they can track the parts as the slides progress.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to critique the deck's own argument about the alien dad, identifying whether the evidence shown is sufficient and what additional data would strengthen or weaken the claim.
- Estimated time: roughly 45 minutes for the full deck, with an additional 15 to 20 minutes if you include the notice-and-wonder discussion and a short student practice argument.
Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Slides for 6th Grade Science
A slide-deck presentation for 6th graders that teaches how to build a scientific argument using claim, evidence, and reasoning, framed around a playful case about an alien dad and a bag of Doritos. It follows a 5E arc with notice-and-wonder prompts and speaker notes, making it well suited to a whole-class lesson of about 45 minutes that builds scientific writing and argumentation skills.
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this deck as a whole-class launch for a unit on scientific argumentation, pausing after the engage slides so students can share their own "prove it" moments before you move into the claim-evidence-reasoning framework.
- Discussion question: What makes a piece of evidence strong enough to support a claim, and how is a good observation different from an opinion?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide a printed claim-evidence-reasoning organizer with sentence starters ("I claim that...", "The evidence shows...", "This supports my claim because...") so they can track the parts as the slides progress.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to critique the deck's own argument about the alien dad, identifying whether the evidence shown is sufficient and what additional data would strengthen or weaken the claim.
- Estimated time: roughly 45 minutes for the full deck, with an additional 15 to 20 minutes if you include the notice-and-wonder discussion and a short student practice argument.