3 Science CER Activities With Real-World Data | Middle & High School
Like you, this time of the year we start heavily introducing graphs and constructed responses in our classes. These are perfect for preparing students for the inevitable exams and state testing that will come their way. Plus, it is a great skill to have for the rest of their lives too.
To help make your prep a bit easier, we've provided you with three separate graphs and CER activities. CER stands for Claim-Evidence-Reasoning and is a tried and true method for getting students to support their answers.
If you like these, you'll love our graphical analysis practice set. This comes jam-packed with 30 graphing activities to get students practicing constructed and written responses. Check it out here.
Instructions:
For the following graphs, I would place them on the screen in the room or print them out. Students would walk in, see it on the screen, and begin working on analyzing it. A great way to slowly introduce this is by providing them time to jot down their thoughts without the CER prompt first. Then, allow them to discuss it with a neighbor or as a class. Then, provide them with the prompt and have them respond individually. To take it a step further you can then discuss it as a class too or take it up for a grade.
Download all of these activities for free here.
Activity 1: Climate Change and Arctic Sea Ice
Background: Every year, Arctic sea ice reaches its minimum extent in September after the summer melting season. Scientists have been measuring this area using satellites since 1979. Sea ice forms when ocean water freezes and plays a crucial role in Earth's climate system by reflecting sunlight back to space. The Arctic region is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, a phenomenon called "polar amplification." This graph shows September measurements because they represent the annual minimum - the smallest amount of sea ice present each year.
- Explains what sea ice is and why September measurements matter
- Introduces the concept of polar amplification
- Provides context about satellite monitoring since 1979
- Sets up understanding of climate system connections
✅ NGSS Standards:
- MS-ESS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment
- HS-ESS3-5: Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change
✅ TEKS Standards:
- Grade 6 (6.3E): Analyze data to formulate reasonable explanations, communicate valid conclusions supported by the data, and predict trends
- Grade 8 (8.11A): Describe producer/consumer, predator/prey, and parasite/host relationships as they occur in food webs within marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems
- Environmental Systems (ENV.7C): Analyze the cumulative impact of human population growth on an ecosystem
📝 CER Prompt:
Claim: Make a claim about how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 44 years and what this suggests about Earth's climate system.
Evidence: Use specific data from the graph to support your claim.
Reasoning: Explain how your evidence connects to your claim using scientific principles about climate systems, feedback loops, and energy balance.
Did you know?
We have a YouTube channel with free standards-aligned worksheets!
Activity 2: Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Populations
Background: When bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, most individual bacteria die because they lack resistance genes. However, a few bacteria may have random genetic mutations that make them resistant to the antibiotic. These resistant bacteria survive, reproduce rapidly (every 20 minutes under ideal conditions), and pass their resistance genes to their offspring. This graph shows what happens to a bacterial population over multiple generations when antibiotic treatment begins at generation 5. This process demonstrates evolution by natural selection happening in real time.
- Describes how bacterial reproduction works (20-minute generations)
- Explains the genetic basis of antibiotic resistance
- Clarifies what happens when treatment begins at generation 5
- Connects the phenomenon to evolution by natural selection
✅ NGSS Standards:
- MS-LS4-6: Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time
- HS-LS4-3: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait
✅ TEKS Standards:
- Grade 7 (7.11A): Examine organisms or their structures such as insects or leaves and use dichotomous keys for identification
- Grade 8 (8.11C): Recognize that environmental changes can affect the types and numbers of organisms and that some organisms may become extinct
- Biology (BIO.7E): Analyze and evaluate the effects of other evolutionary mechanisms, including genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, and recombination
📝 CER Prompt:
Claim: Make a claim about what happens to bacterial populations when antibiotics are introduced and explain whether this represents evolution in action.
Evidence: Use specific data points from the graph to support your claim.
Reasoning: Connect your evidence to your claim using principles of natural selection, genetic variation, and inheritance.
Download all of these activities for free here.
Activity 3: Photosynthesis and Atmospheric CO2 Levels
Background: Scientists have been measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1958 because it's located far from major cities and industrial areas, giving accurate readings of global atmospheric conditions. This graph shows the seasonal pattern that repeats every year - CO₂ levels rise and fall in a predictable cycle. The Northern Hemisphere contains about 68% of the world's land plants, so seasonal changes in plant activity have a significant impact on global atmospheric CO₂. Plants remove CO₂ during photosynthesis and release it during respiration and decomposition.
- Explains why Mauna Loa is an ideal measurement location
- Provides the key fact about Northern Hemisphere vegetation dominance
- Introduces the connection between plant processes and atmospheric CO2
- Sets up the relationship between photosynthesis, respiration, and seasonal cycles
✅ NGSS Standards:
- MS-LS1-5: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms
- HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms
- HS-ESS2-6: Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere
✅ TEKS Standards:
- Grade 7 (7.5A): Recognize that radiant energy from the Sun is transformed into chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis
- Biology (BIO.4B): Investigate and explain cellular processes, including homeostasis, energy conversions, transport of molecules, and synthesis of new molecules
- Environmental Systems (ENV.6A): Summarize the role of microorganisms in both maintaining and disrupting the health of both organisms and ecosystems
📝 CER Prompt:
Claim: Make a claim about the relationship between seasonal plant activity and atmospheric CO2 levels, and explain what this reveals about the global carbon cycle.
Evidence: Use specific data from the graph to support your claim.
Reasoning: Explain how your evidence connects to your claim using knowledge of photosynthesis, respiration, and seasonal plant growth patterns.
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