Common Core LiteracyGrades 6–8Science & Technical

RST.6-8.1: Cite Evidence from Science Texts

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

The Official Wording

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-8, Reading: Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RST.6-8.1 Means in Plain English

Students in grades 6 to 8 back every claim about a science article or technical manual with the exact sentence, number or figure that proves it. If a student says cuttlefish match their background without seeing color, they should point to the test results that show it.

Fifth graders (RI.5.1) quoted accurately from any informational text. This strand starts in grade 6 and carries the skill into science and shop class, where evidence is often a measurement or a data point. In ninth and tenth grade (RST.9-10.1) students must attend to the precise details of explanations.

RST.6-8.1 I Can Statements

I can point to the sentence or number that proves my claim.
I can tell evidence the text gives from what I already knew.
I can explain how a piece of evidence supports my claim.

RST.6-8.1 Worked Example

The article reports two tank tests, and the weak answer reaches the right claim while citing a fact that proves nothing and misquoting the one that does.

Read the Story

A cuttlefish can vanish against sand or rock in under a second. Its skin is packed with chromatophores, tiny sacs of yellow, red or brown pigment that small muscles stretch open and then let shrink back.Scientists test this camouflage by setting a cuttlefish on a checkerboard. On black and white squares about the size of the white patch on its own back, it switches on a bold, blotchy “disruptive” pattern that breaks up its outline.Yet a cuttlefish’s eyes contain only one type of light-detecting cell, so it should be colorblind. When researchers swapped in yellow and blue squares picked to look equally bright to such an eye, the cuttlefish stayed a plain, even color, as if the board were blank.The tests suggest cuttlefish match brightness, contrast and the size of objects around them rather than color. How their skin still lands on such convincing shades is being studied.

A short passage written for this page.

Question: Do cuttlefish use color to match their background? Cite the evidence in the article that supports your answer.

Not Yet“No. Cuttlefish can change color in under a second, and the article says they are colorblind.”The speed fact is true but proves nothing about color, and the article never flatly says they are colorblind. It says they should be, because of their eyes, and then tests it. The answer skips the test entirely.

Meets the Standard“No, the evidence points to brightness and contrast, not color. The article says their eyes ‘contain only one type of light-detecting cell,’ which is why scientists expected them to be colorblind. The tank tests back that up. On black and white squares a cuttlefish switched on its disruptive pattern, but on yellow and blue squares ‘picked to look equally bright,’ it ‘stayed a plain, even color, as if the board were blank.’ The only thing that changed between the two boards was color without a difference in brightness.”It quotes the eye detail and both checkerboard results exactly, and it explains why setting the two results side by side is what proves the claim.

Question Stems to Use

Which sentence or number in the text proves that?Is that from the article, or from something you already knew?What exactly did the test show, in the article’s own words?Which result would have come out differently if your claim were wrong?Does your quote support the whole claim or only part of it?

Common Mistakes with RST.6-8.1

Citing what they already knew

“I saw a video where a cuttlefish turned the exact color of a rock.”

Try this: Have students mark each piece of support T for text or K for knew, and accept only the T marks as evidence.

Quoting a true sentence that proves nothing

“The article says they can vanish in under a second.” offered as proof they ignore color

Try this: Ask students to finish “This proves my claim because…” after every quote; if the sentence will not finish, the quote is wrong.

Citing one result without its comparison

Quoting the yellow and blue result alone, without the black and white result it is measured against

Try this: Point out that a test result means little alone, and require students to cite both conditions the scientists compared.

Where RST.6-8.1 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.5.1Quote accurately from an informational text when explaining what it says and when drawing inferences.

AlongsideRI.8.1Cite the evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of a nonfiction text.WHST.6-8.9Draw evidence from science texts into writing that supports analysis, reflection and research.

Comes NextRST.9-10.1Cite evidence from science texts, attending to the precise details of explanations and descriptions.

Practice RST.6-8.1

Quick Check

What are chromatophores?
Tiny sacs of yellow, red or brown pigment in a cuttlefish’s skin that small muscles stretch open and then let shrink back.
Why did scientists expect cuttlefish to be colorblind?
Their eyes contain only one type of light-detecting cell.
What did a cuttlefish do on yellow and blue squares picked to look equally bright?
It stayed a plain, even color, as if the board were blank, instead of switching on its disruptive pattern.

RST.6-8.1: Other Names

RST.6-8.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1