Handouts are available below.

Big Idea

How can we help students practice writing arguments (like CER) while also evaluating the reliability of sources? Answer: use argument mapping and the CRAAP test.

Episode Notes

Here are a couple of big ideas from the episode:

1. The CRAAP Test (stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. It’s used to evaluate how reliable a source is. To prepare for their debate question that would show up on their test, students needed to read and evaluate the reliability of 4 different sources. For each source, they go through the CRAAP test worksheet, giving a score from 0-3 for each category – and then tallying it up to see what the overall reliability of that resource is.
2. Argument mapping gets students to analyze how an argument is structured so that they can – hopefully – be able to structure a similar argument themselves. In the resources section below, there’s a handout showing students the model of a basic argument as well as three scenarios labeled the “Good” Model, the “Better” Model, and the “Best” Model. After I go over this briefly, I get students to map out a resource related to their research topic – either one they’ve already done or a new one.

Resources

Handout(s): Ep89 Handouts – You Need to Try CRAAP, Argument Mapping With Your Science Class

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