CER paragraph
Thu, Apr 15, 2027 · Week 13 · Biotechnology for Health (Biomedical Innovations)
Today's goal: Write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph and distinguish correlation from causation in your data.
This is a model of the work you should turn in today. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your data and wording should be your own.
Claim: In this stream dataset, dissolved oxygen is lowest on the warmest days.\nEvidence: My graph shows dissolved oxygen held between 8.5 and 9.2 milligrams per liter on days when the water was 12 to 16 degrees Celsius, then dropped to 5.1 milligrams per liter on the day the water reached 26 degrees Celsius.\nReasoning: The warmest-day oxygen reading is about 40 percent lower than the cool-day readings, so the data supports the claim that oxygen falls as this stream warms up.\nCorrelation or causation: This is correlation. The graph shows warm water and low oxygen appearing together, but the numbers alone do not prove the warmth caused the drop.\nAlternative explanation: The warmest day was also the day after a heavy rain that washed fertilizer into the stream, and that runoff can feed bacteria that use up oxygen. Until I rule out the runoff, I can only claim that temperature and low oxygen are correlated, not that heat caused it.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Models the Problem 4 CER step on a different dataset: a paragraph with a claim, cited graph data, reasoning, a correlation-vs-causation classification with justification, and one alternative explanation, so students can copy the structure without copying the answer.
- Write one defensible claim.
- Choose specific evidence that supports the claim.
- Explain the scientific rule that connects the evidence to the claim.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit the CER paragraph on Schoology today.
Turn in: Worked CER on a parallel case (correlation vs causation)
Go to Schoology to turn this in.
Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.
Open Schoology PDF upload helpIf you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about CER paragraph. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.
Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.
It builds this reusable test skill: Distinguishing correlation from causation in environmental data.
- Name the concept or data pattern being tested.
- Cross out choices that violate that rule or the evidence.
- Justify the best remaining choice before checking the answer.