Arguing From Evidence in Middle School Science: 24 Activities for Productive Talk and Deeper Learning

by Jonathan F. Osborne, Anna C. MacPherson, J. Bryan Henderson

Teaching your students to think like scientists starts here! Use this straightforward, easy-to-follow guide to give your students the scientific practice of critical thinking today′s science standards require. Ready-to-implement strategies and activities help you effortlessly engage students in arguments about competing data sets, opposing scientific ideas, applying evidence to support specific claims, and more. Use these 24 activities drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences Stanford University professor, Jonathan Osborne, co-author of The National Resource Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education―the basis for the Next Generation Science Standards―brings together a prominent author team that includes Brian M. Donovan (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study), J. Bryan Henderson (Arizona State University, Tempe), Anna C. MacPherson (American Museum of Natural History) and Andrew Wild (Stanford University Student) in this new, accessible book to help you teach your middle school students to think and argue like scientists!

Genres: Education

280 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2016

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic set of practical, well-designed activities to help engage students in the process of critical thinking and supporting their claims with evidence. Each activity is clearly explained, the student handouts are available in softcopy online for printing, and example student answers are provided with tips on how to guide students toward the scientific consensus if they misinterpret the evidence they collect. (Disclosure: I'm friends with one of the authors.)