Identifying Claims and Evidence worksheet for students to practice matching claims with supporting evidence and writing justifications.

Let's solve this step-by-step based on the worksheet titled "Claim | Evidence | Justification".

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🔍 Understanding the Task

We are given:
- Two claims (statements that can be argued)
- Three pieces of evidence (facts or data)
- We must:
1. Select two claims and two pieces of evidence
2. Match each piece of evidence to the correct claim
3. Write a justification explaining how the evidence supports the claim

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📋 Given Claims and Evidence

#### Claims:
1. Almost all teens use social media.
2. Too much use of social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.

#### Evidence:
1. Social media isn't the problem; the way people use social media is the problem.
2. The average teen ages 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media each day.
3. Pew Research Center reports 97 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds use at least one of seven major social media platforms.

> Note: The third piece of evidence ("Friends" on social media may not actually be friends...) seems more related to safety or authenticity but doesn’t directly support either claim as strongly.

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✔ Step 1: Match Evidence to Claims

Let’s analyze which evidence supports which claim.

#### 🔹 Claim 1: *Almost all teens use social media.*

- Best matching evidence:
➤ "Pew Research Center reports 97 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds use at least one of seven major social media platforms."
→ This statistic directly supports the idea that almost all teens use social media (97% is very close to "almost all").

#### 🔹 Claim 2: *Too much use of social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.*

- Best matching evidence:
➤ "The average teen ages 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media each day."
→ Spending nine hours per day suggests excessive use, which can lead to negative outcomes like anxiety, depression, etc. This supports the claim about overuse leading to problems.

> Note: The statement “Social media isn’t the problem…” is more of an opinion or counterclaim — it doesn’t serve as evidence supporting either claim directly. So we skip it.

> Also, the last evidence about “friends” being strangers relates to privacy/safety, but it's not strong enough to match clearly with either claim.

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✔ Final Selection

We’ll use:
- Claim #1: Almost all teens use social media.
- Evidence #1: Pew Research Center reports 97 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds use at least one of seven major social media platforms.

- Claim #2: Too much use of social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.
- Evidence #2: The average teen ages 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media each day.

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✍️ Now, write justifications:

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Claim #1:

Almost all teens use social media.

Evidence #1:
Pew Research Center reports 97 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds use at least one of seven major social media platforms.

Justification:
This evidence supports the claim because 97% is extremely close to 100%, meaning nearly every teen uses social media. When such a high percentage of teens are using these platforms, it's accurate to say that "almost all teens use social media."

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Claim #2:

Too much use of social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.

Evidence #2:
The average teen ages 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media each day.

Justification:
This evidence supports the claim because spending nine hours a day on social media is considered excessive use. Such long periods of screen time increase the chances of encountering harmful content, interacting with bullies, developing anxiety from constant comparison, and being exposed to mature or inappropriate material, especially without proper supervision.

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✔ Final Answer Summary:

| Claim #1 | Almost all teens use social media. |
|---------|------------------------------------|
| Evidence #1 | Pew Research Center reports 97 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds use at least one of seven major social media platforms. |
| Justification | This shows that nearly every teen uses social media, supporting the claim that "almost all" do. |

| Claim #2 | Too much use of social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate. |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Evidence #2 | The average teen ages 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media each day. |
| Justification | Nine hours daily is excessive use, increasing risks of mental health issues and exposure to harmful content. |

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✔ Note: The other evidence (“Social media isn’t the problem...”) is more of a perspective than evidence, and the “friends” statement is less relevant. So we’ve selected the strongest matches.

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