# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Thank you so much for attending our workshop. Please complete this post workshop evaluation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Elizabeth HS Grades 9-12, NJSLS-Science Sample Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Daily Do

Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do

Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students inauthentic, relevant science learning.We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

Interested in learning about other ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families? Visit the NSTA homepage.

What is sensemaking?

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students do science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

Introduction

In today's Daily Do, Why does the green crab love climate change?, students engage in science and engineering practices and use patterns as a thinking tool to make sense of the phenomenon of the (dramatic) growth in the population of green crabs and their migration to new areas. While students could complete this task independently, we encourage students to work virtually with peers or in the home with family members.

View the Why does the green crab love climate change? NGSS table to see the elements of the three dimensions targeted in this lesson.

Our Beautiful Planet The Future of Shellfish

Experiencing the Phenomenon

Begin by showing students the crab "wanted poster" pictured below. Tell students you saw this poster on a trip to the east coast of the United States and then ask, "Why would a crab be wanted?" In the alone zone, have students think about what this picture might mean and record their ideas in their science notebook. Have students share their ideas as a whole group and record their ideas on the board. Ideas here will vary based on prior learning and geographic region as students that live in coastal regions might have more lived experience with these organisms. However, most students will likely come up with one of two answers: crabs are wanted because people desire to eat them, or crabs are wanted because they pinch people and need to be removed from beaches.

As students share, use talk moves to encourage others to add on to what someone is saying or share similar ideas. Talk moves could include:

Could you explain why you think that?

Does anyone have an idea that is similar?

What other ideas do you have about this poster?

Ask students, "Do we have enough information to determine what exactly this poster means?" Students should come to the conclusion that more information is needed.

Source: Global Invasive Species Database http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=114

Next, tell students you have a short film clip to show them. Play the Our Beautiful Planet The Future of Shellfish film from 1:09 to 2:12 and have them document any questions they have about the information shared. Ask students to turn to a partner and share the questions that arose for them while watching the clip. Next have each student share a question (or a partner's question) with the class. Common questions could include:

How do crabs live on the land - we thought they lived in the water?

Why are they collecting the crabs?

Are the crabs stranded up there?

Are the crabs climate change winners or losers?

Are the crabs on the beach because of climate change? Is the water too warm for them?

What is climate change?

The ocean is really big, so how does a change in temperature affect everything living in the ocean?

Make sure to ask students if they feel all of their questions are represented by the questions on the class list before moving on. Add any new questions shared.

Draw students' attention back to the poster and ask them if they can now explain why a crab would be wanted. Students should confirm that they still don't have enough information. Prompt students to think about what information or data they might need about the crab to figure out what the sign means. Have students brainstorm in small groups to come up with a list of things they might need to know about the green crab. Students' lists could include:

Where does the green crab live (where is its natural habitat)?

What does it eat?

How did it get on the rocks or do they live on the rocks?

Does anything eat green crab?

Do people catch and eat the green crab?

To help students figure out more about the green crab, show them the Range map of European green crab below. Have students work in small groups and write down any information they can identify from the map that might help them figure out more about the green crab.

Figure caption: Rough map of the distribution of C. maenas: Blue areas are the native range, red areas are the introduced or invasive range, black dots represent single sightings that did not lead to invasion, and green areas are the potential range of the species.

Stemonitis - English-language Wikipedia ; Based on blank world map and data from CSIRO., CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1905388

Walk around the room to answer any clarifying questions students may have about the map. You can use this activity to formatively assess students' understanding of the words native, invasive and species. If students ask about the meaning of these words, use talk moves with the small groups to surface prior learning. Talk moves include:

What do you think the word means based on what we have been talking about?

What do you remember about ecosystems in previous grades? Did you ever talk about (bees, Asian carp, butterflies)? What do you remember?

Have each group share one piece of information they pulled from the map that they think will help them figure out more about the green crab. Shared information should include:

The green crab is native to a small part of the world, along the west coast of Europe.

The green crab can now be found in five other locations - the east and west coasts of the US, southern coast of Australia, east coast of South America and west coast of Africa.

The green crab could spread to other parts of those countries and other parts of the world.

There are a few places where the green crab has been spotted but we think they don't really live there.

We think where the map is red the green crabs are causing a problem and that is why they used red.

We think the map uses red because the green crab is an invasive species and we learned invasive species can be bad because they can eat all the food or take up all the places to live.

Have students revisit the poster from the introduction and say, "Now that we have more information about the green crab, what inferences can we make about the poster?" Give students a few minutes in their groups to gather their ideas and then have them share with the class. Most students will now think the poster is a warning and if you see the crabs you need to tell someone so they can do something to keep them out of the area/rid them from the area. Students may wonder if that is what they observed the people doing in the film clip - collecting crabs to get rid of them. Tell students you are not sure about the crabs in the clip, but agree that the posters are up as a way to help scientists and other concerned citizens keep the green crab population from spreading.

If students don't ask why we want to keep the green crabs from spreading, prompt them by asking, "Why would we care if a small number of the green crab population is spreading?" Give students some thinking time and then have students share their ideas. Ideas will vary, but focus students' attention on any ideas shared about how the green crab might interact with the environment. Agree that the next step is to figure out how it interacts with other organisms in the environment. Have students revisit the class list of questions to decide which one they need to answer next. Through discussion, help guide students to the questions that have to do with the crabs' environment. Once they identify this is what they need to know next, tell students each group will be responsible for researching a different topic and reporting their findings to the class. Tell students to record important information on their groups' whiteboards or posters.

Assign each group to research the following topics:

Environmental conditions: Describe the habitat of the green crab. What is the climate like where green crab populations are found?

Food choice: What do green crabs eat? What eats green crabs?

Population: How often do green crabs reproduce? How many eggs do they lay?

Other interactions: How do green crabs affect other living things in the ecosystem? Do they take up the space where other organisms should be living? Which organisms?

The following resources provide information about green crab habitat, food chain/web, and life cycle:

NOTE: Many of the resources include information on all of the bulleted topics above. Depending on time and students' ability levels, you may choose to task each group to look for information on only one topic within their assigned resource or to find information on as many of the topics as they can.

You might pair small groups together to share the information they found before they present it to the whole class; allow students to revise their whiteboard/poster presentation based on peer feedback before sharing with the class. After each group shares, ask them to place their whiteboard/poster where all students can easily access them.

These key takeaways should emerge from students' presentations:

Green crabs like warmer water (64 - 79 ℉).

They can lay up to 185,000 eggs at a time.

Green crabs eat bivalves and other shellfish, eelgrass, and just about everything else they can, including each other.

They do not have any natural predators in the United States but some fish and some birds will eat them.

They are moving into new locations because the temperature of the ocean is getting warmer in these areas.

Green crabs are hurting the shellfish industry.

Finally, play the video Green Crabs Invading Maine Mudflats to ensure all students have the same information.

Students have figured out several things about the green crab and changes to the ecosystems which have occurred since the green crabs' arrival in new locations on the east and west coasts of the United States. Have students work in small groups to create a "must-have" list of components (living and nonliving)) and interactions between components that are necessary to include in a model that explains why the green crab population has grown and spread to new locations and the effect of this invasion on these environments.

Bring the students back together to create a class consensus model. You might start by inviting each group to share one component on their "must-have" list. After each share, ask the class if they agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs down) the component should be included in the model. Consider asking students how components they aren't in agreement with should be represented on the model (for example, placing a question mark next to the component or drawing the component using dashed lines). Continue in this way until all components, and then interactions, have been shared and represented on the class model.

Additional Guidance: Consider using shapes (squares, circles, etc.) and arrows to represent components and interactions to add to the consensus model quickly which will allow you to keep pace with the groups' shares. An example class consensus model is shown below. The particular shapes/colors are not significant (but could be depending on how your class chooses to represent their ideas).

Making Connections

Now that we have put some of the pieces together, have students look at the green areas on the Range map of European green crab (above). Ask students to recall what the green areas indicate. Students should reply that those are the places where the green crab could go next. Ask students to use the class consensus model to explain why scientists are predicting the green crab will invade these locations next. If students don't bring up the rise in ocean temperature, ask, "We know the green crabs have been in the United States for a long time (since the 1880s). Why do you think green crabs are such a problem now? What has changed?" Ask students to turn to a partner to share their thinking before asking them to share their ideas with the class. Students will likely share the green crab population has increased because the ocean temperature has increased.

Pose the question again about why scientists are predicting the green crab will move to the areas marked in green on the map. Students might share either the green crabs are moving to these locations because the water temperatures are warmer there than they used to be or they have to move to find more food (and other resources) because their population is growing. You might ask students which is the cause and which is the effect and how they could use the class consensus model to support their thinking.

Ask students if they would like to add to or revise the class consensus model before moving on to the next part of the lesson.

Circle back to some of the questions from the beginning of the lesson, "Why does the green crab love climate change?" and the question posed in The Future of Shellfish film clip, "Are there climate change winners and climate change losers?" Ask students to think about what they have figured out about the green crab and to develop a claim that answers the question, "Are green crabs climate change losers or winners?" Students should use the evidence they have gathered throughout the lesson to support their claim. Last, they should connect their evidence to their claim using scientific reasoning. An example is provided below:
The green crab is a climate change winner. From the articles and videos, we know that the green crab lives in warmer water, and now that the coastal waters are warmer their population has exploded. We also know that they do not have any natural predators that live in the warmer water either. This is another reason their population is increasing. Since the ocean water is continuing to get warmer, I think the warmer water will continue to spread, increasing the water temperature in other places. Since the water temperature will increase in more places this will give the green crab more places to live.
Next, ask students to think about climate change winners and losers. We have figured out the green crab is a climate change winner, but are there other winners? What organisms are climate change losers? Have students return to their small groups and use the class consensus model to support their thinking about climate change winners and losers. Then have each group share their ideas and encourage them to support their ideas with evidence from the model and/or scientific reasoning. At this point, students will probably recognize that the shellfish green crabs eat are climate change losers. Push their thinking deeper to recognize what other living things (not represented on the model) might also be "losers". Students might offer some of the following ideas:

Tons of green crabs on the beach might affect tourism; people and towns could lose money.

Organisms that rely on beaches for resources might be affected.

Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water - there might not be enough oxygen in an area to support all of the organisms who live there.

Now that students have identified some climate change losers, ask, "Do you think there are other climate change winners?" Students may predict that organisms that do well in warmer water like the green crab would also be climate change winners.

Tell students that scientists are working on figuring out if there are other winners of climate change, and may have found one. Tell them you are going to show the film The Future of Shellfish introduced at the beginning of the lesson and then play the film. Ask them to note climate change winners and losers shared in the film.

Unanswered Questions

Engage students in a whole group discussion about new noticings or wonderings about the information presented in The Future of Shellfish. Students should notice conflicting claims about how warmer water affects lobster larvae and juvenile lobsters were shared, and that both of these claims are supported by evidence. Use the evidence for conflicting claims (arguments) to lead a discussion about the nature of science; competing evidence-supported arguments often exist, especially when concepts/ideas are new. Explain that this is how science ideas get figured out and how new discoveries are made.

To wrap up the lesson, ask students if they have ideas about the lobster larvae. Have each student individually make and record their prediction about whether lobster (larvae) will end up being climate change winners or losers. Remind them to support their prediction with scientific reasoning. Ask students to share their predictions with a partner or small group; give students time to add to or revise their prediction based on peer feedback. Some students may want to share their predictions with the class. After these students have shared, suggest to the class they check on this topic periodically to see if any new evidence has been added to support or refute their predictions.

Meet Markus Frederich

Dr. Frederich is a Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of New England. He received his masters degree in biology from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, where he investigated anatomical abnormalities in ants that got exposed to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Bremen, Germany for his work at the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany. Here he investigated stress physiology mechanisms in Antarctic crustaceans. For this project he also worked at the Station Biologique de Roscoff in France, and at the Instituto de la Patagonia, Universidad de Magallanes, in Punta Arenas, Chile. Dr. Frederich did his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, where he investigated energy metabolism of mammalian hearts using NMR spectroscopy. In 2003 he joined the faculty of the University of New England where he established his lab investigating energy metabolism and stress physiology in marine invertebrates. He also spent several summers at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, MDIBL, in Bar Harbor, Maine.

This lesson is based on information provided in Our Beautiful Planet The Future of Shellfish. Our Beautiful Planet is a fascinating new series highlighting the work that climate scientists around the country are doing to solve some of the world's most pressing issues. These dedicated scientists are seeking to better understand and plan for the realities of our changing climate. Using cutting edge technology and innovative problem solving, their answers are sometimes found in rather surprising and unexpected places. Our series brings the viewer along for the ride to some of the most important field work being done today, taking the science out of the classroom and into the world. These compelling stories will not only teach our viewers crucial scientific principles, but will also inspire them to use science to examine the issues their own communities face in this changing world and climate. Through these films, we hope scientists and citizens alike can come together to safeguard our environment and to protect our beautiful planet. Productions by Kikim Media. Support provided by Kennebunkport Climate Initiative.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Does the Green Crab Love Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Daily Do Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
feature

Crafting and Critiquing Climate Change Evidence Arguments

CONTENT AREA Earth Science

GRADE LEVEL 6-8

BIG IDEA/UNIT Arguing from climate change evidence in a podcast episode

ESSENTIAL PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE Conceptual understanding of the greenhouse effect

TIME REQUIRED Depends on whether school is remote or in-person and how often you see students

COST Three free padlets with Basic membership, unlimited padlets for $10/month with Pro membership or $96/year

SAFETY Follow all school procedures to address internet safety/privacy.

The most important issue facing our civilization is the existential threat of global climate change, making it imperative for our students to be climate literate in order to take action and create positive environmental and social change.

The September 2019 global climate strikes were proof of how invested young people are in the future of humankind and that of our planet. Therefore, shortly before going remote in the spring of 2020, each of my classes was tasked with publishing a climate change podcast series. One critical component to this unit of study on climate change was for students to analyze climate change data in order to argue from the evidence in their podcast episode.

I began by curating resources on padlets and sharing the links to each through Google Classroom. Padlets are online bulletin boards a teacher can use with any internet-enabled device to display information on a topic or have students use to share ideas with digital "sticky" notes. Over the course of four weeks, students worked remotely to access padlets on the internet. Students used the resources on the padlets to conduct research on four pieces of evidence that prove global climate change is accelerating and is a result of human activities: global warming, extreme weather events, melting ice, and sea level rise.

During this time, I saw my sixth-grade students for science two days a week, slightly more than one hour each day. One day was a teaching and working day that included a mini-lesson or discussion about the climate change data to be researched, time for questions and answers, research time for students to analyze the data and begin crafting an initial argument, conferences and small groups to provide student support, and a short debrief at the end of class to discuss initial student data analysis and initial argument ideas. The other day was designated for an argument session.

One way to collect multiple student ideas and foster student collaboration is to use a shared online space. For this purpose, I used what I referred to with students as padlet argument boards. Students had the opportunity to share their arguments on their class padlet for each piece of climate change evidence and then critique each other's arguments. Use of the padlet argument board provided a space for students to take part in the important scientific process of learning together by building scientific knowledge as a community ( Schwarz, Passmore, and Reiser 2017).

Analyzing climate change data to craft scientific arguments was one part of a unit of study on climate change. Students critiqued arguments and other parts of the unit to prepare for drafting and publishing a podcast episode with their research partner. The steps involved in crafting and critiquing arguments from climate change evidence are explained throughout the rest of the article.

Climate change unit launch and forming student groups

The unit was launched (prior to teaching online) with the documentary Chasing Ice (see link in Online Connections) to introduce students to the broad concepts and subtopics of climate change. While we watched the video as a group, students captured key ideas and new concepts using the two-column note-taking strategy from Facing History and Ourselves (see link to Two-Column Note-Taking Strategy in Online Connections; see also box with Chasing Ice Documentary Two-Column Note Strategy). I paused throughout the documentary for students to do think-pair-shares to capture their own thoughts and those of their peers. Students shared their ideas as a whole class, and I documented student thinking on chart paper. I made sure to take pictures of the chart paper and post to Google Classroom, so students could refer to the ideas we captured in the classroom at home. For homework, students responded to each key idea in their notes with either a question they had or an interpretation or connection they made. Some examples of key ideas students came up with throughout the documentary are that carbon dioxide levels have been increasing steadily in the atmosphere as a result of human activity, that global warming is causing glaciers to melt quickly, and that extreme weather events are to become more frequent and intense. We started the next day of class by sharing students' responses to key ideas before continuing with the documentary.

Following the unit launch, students previewed trade books and digital resources on padlets to decide which climate change subtopic they would focus on for their podcast episode (see Online Connections). Students were then organized into research partnerships and study groups based on their research interests. The subtopics students focused on in their research and podcast episodes were: the greenhouse effect, global warming, extreme weather events, melting ice, sea level rise, solar energy, wind energy, and hydroelectric energy.

Not only did this grouping approach allow for student voice and choice to increase engagement and make for an authentic project, but it also kept students from feeling that they were being stigmatized based on the kind of learner they were. As a result, all learners felt respected and collaboration in the differentiated classroom was maintained as a core value ( Tomlinson 1995).

Analyzing a mentor scientific argument

When we gathered as a whole class to begin thinking about crafting scientific arguments, the initial focus was on analyzing a mentor scientific argument. The use of a mentor text served as a model argument for students to use when writing their own arguments so they could see how the author structured the writing and then emulate the author's writing in their own work ( Reed and Thompson 2019). We analyzed a mentor argument written by a seventh-grade science student because the quality of the argument writing was attainable for an end-of-year sixth-grade science student, and the writing clearly showed the different parts of a scientific argument with claim, evidence, and reasoning. The decision to use a mentor student argument focusing on a topic other than climate change was to ensure that the cognitive demand of writing scientific arguments about climate change was maintained for students.

To fully understand the work of crafting an argument, students would first need to identify where the claim, evidence, and reasoning were located in a mentor student argument. To do this, students worked with their research partner in a Zoom breakout room to color-code each part of the same student argument in their digital notebook that was shared with them on Google Classroom. For each lesson on the four pieces of climate change evidence, I created Google Slide digital notebooks with a Pear Deck add-on. The Pear Deck add-on is free and can be used with Google or Microsoft (see Online Connections). The purpose of including Pear Deck in the Google Slide notebook is to make the notebook more engaging and interactive for students, as well as to integrate formative assessments easily and support students with executive functioning needs asynchronously, offering them both flexibility and predictability.

Using a graphic organizer, students recorded where each part of the mentor student argument was located and described what made each part of the argument strong and effective. Based on their analysis of the mentor argument, students used a rubric checklist template to organize their ideas for what the criteria should be when writing a claim, evidence, and reasoning in preparation for students developing their own scientific argument rubric checklist (see Turning a Mentor Scientific Argument into a Rubric Checklist). We then came back together as a whole group to debrief the experience of analyzing the mentor student argument.

Co-constructing a scientific argument rubric checklist

Each student pair contributed ideas toward creating a class rubric for evaluating climate change arguments. The process of co-constructing a rubric checklist with students was beneficial because it made them aware of the assessment criteria, and it made it more likely that students would use the rubric checklist as a tool for self-assessment and peer critique because they had participated in its design ( Bharuthram and Patel 2017).

Chasing Ice Documentary Two-Column Note-Taking Strategy

Key Ideas: Main points of the documentary

1) What are the most important ideas to remember?

2) What new terms or concepts have been introduced?

Response: Questions, Interpretations, and C onnections

1) What questions does this information raise for you? (Q)

2) Why do you think this information is important and/or relevant to the unit of study on climate change? (I)

3) What other ideas, events, or texts does this information remind you of? (C)

4) How does this information connect to your own life? (C)

To do this work, we started with examining the claim in the mentor student argument and discussing the criteria for what goes into making a claim. Each research partnership had the opportunity to share one criteria they had recorded on their rubric checklist. While students were sharing, I captured their thinking on sticky notes and placed those on chart paper. After each group had the chance to share, we voted on which were the best criteria that made for a strong and effective claim and those sticky notes were left on the chart paper. The process was repeated for evidence and reasoning until we had co-constructed a scientific argument writing rubric checklist (see Figure 1; see Co-Constructing a Scientific Argument Rubric Checklist and Scientific Argument Writing Steps).

Figure 1

Co-constructed scientific argument writing rubric checklist. After analyzing mentor scientific arguments, student groups shared out what made each part of the arguments strong and effective.

Climate change evidence research and crafting an initial scientific argument

Gathering evidence

Students began to conduct research on global warming using their first of four major pieces of climate change evidence. Using a padlet containing links to resources about global warming that I curated and shared through Google Classroom, students engaged with at least two of each type of the following texts: graphs, videos, articles, and interactive simulations. While researching, students gathered global warming data that they thought could potentially serve as qualitative or quantitative evidence to support their claim in response to the research question: How has global temperature changed over the past century?

Analyzing evidence

To prepare students to work independently on analyzing and interpreting data, we analyzed a NASA Rising Global Temperature graph together as a whole group using the notice, wonder, story strategy (see Figure 2). This is an approach to analyzing data with many benefits. First, students were asked to record what they noticed about the graph in their notes, which is something that every student was able to do independently. This was followed by students recording any questions they wondered about the graph. Last, students recorded what they thought was going on in the graph and what story it told. Students did this activity as a think-pair-share, so they had the opportunity to jot their initial observations, questions, and analysis of the data in their digital notebook before pairing with their research partner to hear their thoughts. When I instructed students to share their thoughts with partners, I also encouraged them to record any new ideas that resulted from the conversation.

Figure 2

Notice, wonder, and story data analysis used by students to analyze climate change data and determine the best evidence to support their claims.
Graph #1 Name: Sea Level Measurements Notice:
One thing i noticed is that the graph is measuring the sea level by the years and the sea level variation in millimeters. I also noticed that the sea level goes up 3.3 millimeters each year. Also, the data is taken from a satellite.

Wonder:

I wonder why the sea level went down from 56.3 mm to 47.8 mm in april 2011, and from 19.3 mm to 12.1 mm in september 1998. How did it start as -0.5mm in 1993, and go all the way up to 95.8 mm by 2019??
What's the story? What is going on in the graph?:
What's going on in this graph is that it is showing the HUGE increase in the sea level from 1993 to 2019. It shows the many changes-increases/decreases overtime.

When we discussed as a whole group what students noticed, wondered, and thought the story of the graph was, students were able to make connections and build deeper comprehension of the data as they shared ideas with peers and built off of their initial thinking by looking at data in different and deeper, more meaningful ways ( Mei 2018). For example, one student helped others see the cause-and-effect relationship between the enhanced greenhouse effect resulting from increased burning of fossil fuels and how that has led to the rising global temperatures observed in the graph.

Ranking evidence

After gathering and analyzing global warming evidence, I modeled for students how to rank evidence as high or low quality using evidence from a previous unit of study on ecology. I showed students how to use a checklist for ranking the evidence that provided them with specific criteria to use in evaluating evidence quality: accuracy, support for the claim, source reliability, difficulty to argue against, and persuasiveness (see Ranking Evidence Checklist). Student research pairs then discussed and ranked their evidence as high or low quality with the support of the checklist. After ranking evidence, students picked their two best pieces of evidence to support their claim in response to the research question. We debriefed the experience of ranking evidence as a group at the end of class, and students volunteered to share pieces of evidence they were choosing to use in their arguments.

Building reasoning

Having made a claim and provided evidence to support that claim, students needed to provide reasoning to connect their evidence to their claim by incorporating relevant scientific ideas to justify their evidence. To support students with this work, they used the reasoning tool from The Argumentation Toolkit. I explained to students that the reasoning tool can help them organize their ideas clearly as they craft a convincing initial argument with claim, evidence, and reasoning, and I showed them how they needed to connect their evidence with their claim by explaining the reason(s) why the evidence matters.

The purpose for modeling with content that was already familiar to students was so that they could just focus on the practice of incorporating reasoning into their argument writing, without needing to understand new science concepts at the same time (see Figure 3). I walked them through each part of the reasoning tool, first reading the research question and jotting down the strongest evidence I had gathered in the left column of the tool. This allowed me to be able to make an accurate claim in response to the research question in the right column of the tool. Then, to engage students with the reasoning process by activating their prior science knowledge, I had them do a think-pair-share to connect the evidence with the claim by discussing the scientific ideas that explain why the evidence supported the claim.

Argumentation Thought Stems

I agree with . . . , because . . .

I agree with . . . , and would like to add that . . .

I'd like to build onto . . .

I'd like to justify my thought . . .

I'd like to respond to . . .

I disagree with that because . . .

I partially agree with . . . , but I believe . . .

I understand that you are saying . . . , but . . .

Figure 3

Reasoning tool model: Hudson River Ecology.

Directions: Use the reasoning tool to explain how the pieces of evidence support the given claim in response to the research question.

Research Question: Is the Hudson a river, an estuary, or both?

According to the Pier 84 water elevation and salinity graph from HRECOS, water elevation increases two times each day, causing an increase in salinity levels in this lower part of the Hudson. And, water elevation decreases two times each day, causing a decrease in salinity levels.

The gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon on the Earth causes a rising and falling of tides in the Hudson twice daily. This proves that the Hudson is an estuary because it is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and is influenced by its tidal forces and saltwater.

The Hudson is both a river and an estuary.

According to the salinity data visualization for the lower half of the Hudson, salinity levels decrease the further you get from the mouth of the Hudson at New York Harbor and the closer you get to the Federal Dam in Troy, N.Y. Here, there is no trace of oceanic salt.

Rivers consist of naturally flowing freshwater. Even though the most northern lower part of the Hudson by the dam in Troy is influenced by tides, it is not influenced by salt, and is therefore considered a tidal river, not a tidal estuary.

After I modeled how to use the reasoning tool, research partnerships conducted more global warming research, now focusing on finding the scientific ideas that explain why their evidence supported their claim. Students practiced completing the reasoning tool independently before sharing their ideas with their peers and debriefing initial reasons at the end of class as a whole group.

Self-assessing the initial scientific argument

Once students had crafted their initial global warming argument with claim, evidence, and reasoning, they used the scientific argument rubric checklist to self-assess their writing (see Co-Constructing a Scientific Argument Writing Rubric Checklist). Their job was to mark up the checklist in their digital notebook for each criteria listed under claim, evidence, and reasoning. For every criteria that they marked as "starting to" or "not yet," they jotted next steps for themselves in the self-assessment box on the bottom of the checklist.

Padlet argument board gallery walk

Initial peer praise and critique of scientific arguments

Following self-assessment, students posted their initial global warming arguments to the padlet argument board. I explained to students that their task was to praise and critique the scientific arguments of at least two peers and respond to at least one peer who provided critique on their scientific argument (see Figures 4 and 5). I modeled for students the process of providing critique on an argument by using an initial student argument from the argument board that I was given permission to use. I showed students how I took an argumentation thought stem (see Argumentation Thought Stems in box) to start my thought when providing critical feedback and then focused on a specific aspect of the argument that needed improvement based on the criteria of the scientific argument writing rubric checklist.

Figure 4

Example of a padlet argument board showing what a portion of a sea level rise argument board looked like for one of the classes. Students posted their initial arguments, critiqued the arguments of their peers, and responded to their peers who provided them with a critique.

Figure 5

Student critque of an argument on the padlet argument board.

Minh Anh

Reasoning:Ice melts when heat energy causes the molecules to move faster, breaking the hydrogen bonds between molecules to form liquid. In the melting process, the water molecules actually absorb energy.

Cole

I agree with your scientific argument, but next time maybe include something about thermal expantion which is basically heat causing water to expand, that's another vital reason for sea levels to rise.

Most of the student critiques happened asynchronously, so when we had a synchronous class discussion, we were able to evaluate the critiques peers provided as a group and determine what we agreed with and disagreed with on the basis of the scientific argument writing rubric checklist. This type of learning activity proved to be interactive for many students. It was heartening to see how students responded to the work that was being asked of them. Many students provided more praise and critiques of peers and responded to more peer critiques of their arguments than was expected of them. Most exciting to see were the students who engaged in meaningful back-and-forth discussion and debate to defend their arguments, leading to productive conversations where students built on one another's ideas and pushed each other's thinking forward.

When I asked students how they felt about using a padlet argument board, many shared that they liked being able to critique each other's arguments asynchronously. The most common reasons students provided for why they appreciated the argument board were being able to have thinking time to thoughtfully respond to their peers in writing and, for those who didn't feel comfortable speaking in front of their peers, to have a method of communicating ideas other than talking.

To strengthen initial student arguments, I provided students with feedback using multiple approaches. First, I held meetings with small groups of students who needed to improve on the same aspect of their argument writing. This allowed me to address their needs at the same time. Second, I shared a Google Doc with each student where I recorded the strengths of their scientific arguments and what needed improvement. Students told me having the document was helpful so they could refer to my feedback as needed; I also found it useful to reference what I wrote and track student progress. I repeated this same process with the remaining climate change topics.

Reflections, tips, and future considerations

This project was successful even though there were many challenges presented by teaching and learning remotely. The biggest success was that each class was ultimately able to produce a climate change podcast series, which meant that students found ways to collaborate remotely in research partnerships. Another huge success was that students used self-assessment, peer review, and teacher feedback to strengthen their talk in the podcast episodes. While receiving feedback can be difficult for students to embrace, it was evident that many were receptive to constructive criticism and recognized its importance in improving the quality of their work. In conversations with students during conferences and small groups, many mentioned that they felt positive social pressure not to let their peers down, the need to do their part for the collaborative class project, and that the work was relevant and important.

When thinking about next steps for this type of remote learning project, it's worth considering best practices for how to ensure equal participation from all students, both in terms of their attendance during synchronous classes and their contributions to group work. While many students had success with crafting their scientific arguments, some students struggled, even with the various supports put in place. This project highlights the need to continue to develop strategies for increasing student engagement in remote learning environments.

Even though students had opportunities to be critical peers throughout the year in school, some students struggled with the idea of critiquing their friends and having other people see their feedback on the padlet argument boards. Creating a culture where this kind of knowledge building through critique is the norm could go a long way in getting students to understand the importance of this process for scientists, albeit remotely.

Having students engage in argument from evidence is a critically important aspect of scientific practice in confirming and pushing knowledge further. When planning every unit of study throughout the year, it's imperative to allow for multiple opportunities for students to engage in this work. Becoming proficient in communicating as scientists through crafting and critiquing arguments of peers makes for authentic scientific work and creates a classroom culture for students that shows them their voices and ideas are expected and valued as part of a community of learners. *

Online Connections
Turning a Mentor Scientific Argument into a Rubric Checklist Reasoning Tool Co-Constructing a Scientific Argument Writing Rubric Checklist and Scientific Argument Writing Next Steps Connecting to the Next Generation Science Standards
Argumentation Toolkit-https://bit.ly/3AZfKKj

Chasing Ice documentary-https://chasingice.com

Facing History: Two-Column Note Taking Strategy-https://bit.ly/3i43saP

Learning Through Performance Climate Change Unit (Stanford)-https://stanford.io/3i32Pyt

Pear Deck-https://www.peardeck.com/googleslides

Pear Deck-https://www.peardeck.com/help-videos

Teach Climate Justice Campaign (Zinn Education Project)-https://bit.ly/3ibLjIu

The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change (Paleontological Research Institute)- https://bit.ly/3raQVH0

Brian E. Gordon ( bgordon@is289.org) is a science teacher at I.S. 289 Hudson River Middle School in New York, New York.

References

Bharuthram, S., and M. Patel. 2017. Co-constructing a rubric checklist with first year university students: A self-assessment tool. Journal of Applied Language Studies 11 (4): 35-55. https://doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.201708073430

Mei, M. 2018. The exercise with no wrong answer: Notice and wonder. Teaching tidbits blog. http://maateachingtidbits.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-exercise-with-no-wrong-answer.html

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-sciencestandards

Reed, D.K., and S. Thompson. 2019. Using mentor texts to learn from the best and improve students' writing. Iowa City, IA: Iowa Reading Research Center. https://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/mentor-texts-student-writing

Schwarz, C.V., C. Passmore, and B.J. Reiser. 2017. Helping students make sense of the world using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. https://my.nsta.org/resource/105619

Tomlinson, C. 1995. How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Crafting and Critiquing Climate Change Evidence Arguments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
feature The most important issue facing our civilization is the existential threat of global climate change, making it imperative for our students to be climate literate in order to take action and create positive environmental and social change. The September 2019 global climate strikes were proof of how invested young people are in the future of humankind and that of our planet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the New Jersey Department of Education Digital Item LibraryThe Digital Item Library provides access to items previously administered on a New Jersey Department of Education assessment. The library categorizes items by Evidence Statements (ELA/Mathematics), Reporting Categories (Science) o…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) for English Language Arts, Mathematics (NJSLA-ELA/Math), and Science (NJSLA-S) Resource Center.
This site hosts all of the tools necessary for Test Coordinators, Technology Coordinators, and Test Administrators to prepare for and administer the NJSLA.

PearsonAccessnext

PearsonAccess next serves as the entry point to all Pearson services used by schools and districts participating in the NJSLA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) for English Language Arts, Mathematics (NJSLA-ELA/Math), and Science (NJSLA-S) Resource Center. This site hosts all of the tools necessary for Test Coordinators, Technology Coordinators, and Test Administrators to prepare for and administer the NJSLA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Import/Update users in PAN

Starting December 3, 2019

Districts Upload SR/PNP Files in PAN

12/05/19 - 12/20/19

Parent, Student, and Teacher Information Guides avaiailable

January 31, 2020: Online
February 3-7, 2020: Hard copies delivered
February 3, 2020: Available as Additional Orders

Infrastructure Trial Begins

February 03, 2020

Test Coordinator and Test Administrator Manuals Posted on website

February 21, 2020

District Test Coordinator/Technology Coordinator Regional Training (ELA/L, math, and science)

North: February 26-27, 2020
Central: March 2-4, 2020
South: March 5, 2020

Paper materials arrive in district

No later than April 3, 2020

Proctor Caching Available

April 6, 2020

Additional Order Windows:
All Materials Available
Only CBT & Coordinator Kits available
Only Coordinator Kits available

April 6-27, 2020
April 28 - May 22, 2020
May 23 - June 3, 2020

Prepare Sessions Available

April 17, 2020

Testing Window

Computer-based: 04/20/20 - 05/29/20
Paper-based: 04/20/20 - 05/01/20

Deadline to Return Scorable Materials to Measurement Incorporated

No later than 1 week after PBT window closes (by May 8, 2020)

District clean-up deadline

June 10, 2020

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Import/Update users in PAN Starting December 3, 2019 Districts Upload SR/PNP Files in PAN 12/05/19 - 12/20/19 Parent, Student, and Teacher Information Guides avaiailable January 31, 2020: Online February 3-7, 2020: Hard copies delivered February 3, 2020: Available as Additional Orders Infrastructure Trial Begins February 03, 2020 Test Coordinator and

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Climate Change Performance Expectations across Content Areas and Grade Band

# data[].attributes.body
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LsSenvIemwLqap33Jgr65zzOrGj8a7SYNWk1ecBr8fg/edit

# data[].attributes.body
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/16/quiz-global-warming/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Explore

Test your knowledge about global temperature change and its impact on Earth's climate.

You can browse a gallery containing this quiz and others here.

Credit

NASA Climate Change website

Preview

Related

Arctic sea ice - Climate 365 graphic

Graphic: Arctic sea ice loss

Rivers of ice - Climate365 graphic

Graphic: Rivers of ice

Video: Scientists combined an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth with data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe and why.

Video: For 15 years, GRACE tracked freshwater movements around the world

This visualization shows that as land temperatures have increased since 1950, hotter days have become more common and colder days have become less common.

Watching the Land Temperature Bell Curve Heat Up (1950-2020)

Explore

Interactives, galleries and apps

Images of Change

Explore a stunning gallery of before-and-after images of Earth from land and space that reveal our home planet in a state of flux.

Climate Time Machine

Travel through Earth's recent climate history and see how increasing carbon dioxide, global temperature and sea ice have changed over time.

Eyes on the Earth

Track Earth's vital signs from space and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites in an interactive 3D visualization.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Quiz: Global warming – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Test your knowledge about global temperature change and its impact on Earth’s climate.