Part 3 Argue

8.B Engage in an argument from evidence supported by scientific reasoning for how a healthy digestive system rearranges matter through chemical reactions and absorbs food, and how and why M’Kenna’s digestive system is functioning differently.

8.B Engage in an argument from evidence supported by scientific reasoning for how a healthy digestive system rearranges matter through chemical reactions and absorbs food, and how and why M’Kenna’s digestive system is functioning differently.

See detailed sample responses and scoring guidance in Part 3: Sample Student Response of What’s Causing M’Kenna’s Symptoms and Argument Rubric - Part 3 - M’Kenna’s Disease.

While the assessment should be completed independently, some students might benefit from assistance with the organization of their writing. Additional guidance about supporting students’ writing is provided below.

WRITING IN SCIENCE

To support writing in science, some students may benefit from assistance as they prepare to organize their argument in writing. For those students who struggle with written organization, provide them with a structure built around sentence stems so that they can craft an argument that demonstrates their content knowledge without getting tripped up by organizational challenges.

You may provide something like:

M’Kenna’s symptoms are being caused by ______.

One piece of evidence I collected that supports this is ______. This supports my conclusion because…

Another piece of evidence I collected that supports this is _____. This supports my conclusion because…

I know that M’Kenna does not have _____ because...

Identify similarities and differences between arguments. Put students into groups of 3. Ask students to compare and critique their peers’ arguments based on how well their evidence supports their explanation of which diagnosis fits M’Kenna’s symptoms. Use Peer Feedback Guidelines to support students in giving and receiving feedback. You can choose to have students revise their arguments based on peer critique.

Additionally, students can complete the rubric Lesson 8 Self-Assessment: Giving and Receiving Feedback to reflect upon the feedback they give to and receive from peers.