Virginia SOL PS.1.d.i

ScienceGrades 7–8Physical Science

The Standard

construct scientific explanations based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students' own investigations)

Virginia Standards of Learning for Science · The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific and engineering practices by

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students make a clear scientific claim and support it with relevant evidence from investigations or trustworthy sources. They explain how the evidence supports the claim.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students select useful data, cite repeated measurements or credible sources, and connect each piece of evidence to their claim. They also identify weak evidence or limits in the data.
Common Misconceptions: Students may summarize the procedure instead of explaining the result. They may rely on one data point, choose only supporting data, or assume any website is reliable.
How to Assess It: Give students a small data table and two source excerpts. Ask them to write a claim, cite two reliable pieces of evidence, and explain the connection.

Lesson moves

Have groups measure water cooling over three trials, graph the results, and write an explanation that addresses any outlier.
Ask students to compare two explanations and write which is stronger, naming the evidence and why it is reliable.
Play a card sort where students match claims, evidence, and reasoning, then remove cards that are irrelevant or unreliable.
Examine a battery advertisement, then use a test table and consumer report excerpt to decide whether the advertised claim is supported.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to PS.1.d.i, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Keep exploring

Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.