By grade 12, students should be able to • Construct a scientific argument showing how data support a claim. • Identify possible weaknesses in scientific arguments, appropriate to the students’ level of knowledge, and discuss them using reasoning and evidence. • Identify flaws in their own arguments and modify and improve them in response to criticism. • Recognize that the major features of scientific arguments are claims, data, and reasons and distinguish these elements in examples. • Explain the nature of the controversy in the development of a given scientific idea, describe the debate that surrounded its inception, and indicate why one particular theory succeeded. • Explain how claims to knowledge are judged by the scientific community today and articulate the merits and limitations of peer review and the need for independent replication of critical investigations. • Read media reports of science or technology in a critical manner so as to identify their strengths and weaknesses.