How to move from cases to comparisons
Drawing a conclusion or making a claim involves moving from what one person sees on one occasion to comparisons across multiple cases. Scientists have to decide how to combine data or compare with others and how to make sense of conflicting evidence.
A closer look at uncertainty in the classroom
[MORE TO COME]
Instructional moves to support this form of uncertainty
Provide students opportunities to make sense of their own data, making a tentative claim using that, and to compare their findings with others.
Ask for connections when students present their claims and evidence: “Who is seeing something similar? Is anyone seeing something different?”
Make class records of results visible, for example using data tables, photographs, or other records. In our seeds investigation, teachers use butcher block paper showing the distances all seeds traveled.
Restate and ask students to explore the implications of comparisons, “Oh, so you noticed your seed did not travel as far as the milkweed seed? What does that tell you?”
Where else does this form of uncertainty come up?
Explore Related Cases
Other Ways to Learn More
Explore the Claims and Evidence Conversation Tool to consider the ways teachers can support students to move from individual to comparative data as part of the work of moving between observations, claims, and explanations.
