Scientific Journals Get out your scientific journals and place them on your desk in front of you...

Scientific JournalsGet out

your scientific journals

and place them on

your desk in front of

you...

Why keep a Science Notebook?

A science lab notebook engages students in the authentic practice of science while providing the teacher with insight into student thinking and comprehension of content Edelson 1997

Why keep a Scientific Notebook?

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a major research institute in New York, scientists are advised to grab only one item in a fire—their laboratory notebooks—because everything else can be recreated using it.(Barker 1998).

Examples of Science Notebooks

Leonardo da Vinci’s Scientific Notebook

Thomas Edison’s Notebook Illustration of a Lightbulb

Computational Chemist

“Something’s wrong with

this”

Materials Scientist

Graphs &

Charts

Ecologist

Illustrations

GuidelinesWrite your name or label the cover with your name.

Open the journal and create a title page: Full name, Environmental Science/Systems, Period (#), and Chagra. Leave the back of the page blank.

Turn to the next page, and front and back, write: Table of Contents at the top of the page. Repeat for the back and front of the next four pages.

GuidelinesWrite the date on the top left corner

Begin sequentially numbering your journal pages starting with the next blank page by writing a “1” in the top right corner.

You will number each page back and front from this point forward so that the right side pages will be odd numbers and the left side pages will be even numbers.

Laboratory notebook guidelines

A laboratory notebook is a legal document. Notebooks have been used in lawsuits and criminal trails—but their value depends on your careful record keeping. You must write in an orderly, legible manner to ensure clarity for others.

1. Always write starting at the top of the page and finishing at the bottom.

2. Never cut or remove a page. If you make a mistake, cross it out with a single line, write in the correct entry, and sign (or initial) and date your correction. The original entry should still be legible.

3. Give your entry a title that reflects your investigation.

Laboratory notebook guidelinesWrite on the top of the first page after the TOC

Notes for keeping a proper journal, copy the black print in your journals: ENTRY #1

4. List the objectives of the procedure or experiment: What are you investigating? What is your hypothesis? (Use the template)

5. Describe the procedure in enough detail that could repeat your experiment or procedure by reading your lab notebook. If you are following a procedure you have already recorded, you may refer to it by page number. Note any deviations from the original method.

6. Design data tables so that all pertinent information can be recorded. You may have to record equipment numbers, calibration data, reagent numbers, and so on.

Laboratory notebook guidelinesWrite on the top of the first page after the TOC

Notes for keeping a proper journal, copy the black print in your journals

7. Analyze your data in depth. Include any tables, graphs, pictures, and so on. If these are printed separately, tape them into your notebook. Never rely solely on any supplemental attachments. Always include your own entry describing the attachment and add any conclusions that you might draw from its substance.

8. Summarize the results of your procedure.

9. Sign the bottom of the page with your name and the date formatted as month/day/year (e.g., May 12, 2010). Periodically, have someone check your work and sign as “read and understood by (name).”

As you record your activities in the laboratory, ask yourself, “Did

I...”

update the table of contents?

sign and date each page?

number each page consecutively?

use continuation notes when necessary?

properly void all blank pages or portions of pages (front and back)?

As you record your activities in the laboratory, ask yourself, “Did

I...”

enter all information directly into the notebook?

properly introduce and summarize each experiment?

include complete details of all first-time procedures?

include calculations and units?

Guidelines for peer review ofLab notebooks.

Never make changes in someone else’s lab notebook. If you find a miscalculation, ask the author to correct it. Sticky notes are great for this purpose. If you cannot follow the procedure from what is written, ask the author to clarify his or her entry.

Never sign a notebook until you are satisfied with the entry you are reviewing. Because this is a legally binding document, when you sign, you are saying that you are a witness and that you agree with the entries on the page.


• Check the following:

Is the procedure clear and repeatable?

Are all raw data recorded?

Are instruments or equipment identified?

Is the data table understandable, are the units correct, and so on?

Are the calculations used to analyze the data appropriate and accurate?

Are all attachments secured?

Is the appropriate format used?

Are all entries signed and dated?


• What you do not have to check:

• 1. Spelling, unless it is critical to the understanding of the notebook entry. Reagent names and organism names, for example, could be critical.

• 2. Grammar.

• Remember, this document will carry your name as a witness. When you sign another’s notebook, it becomes your responsibility.

Copy the following: ENTRY #2Parts of an Experiment

Entry # 3 Elements of a Good Graph

1. A good graph has a TITLE

2. The x axis is for the independent variable and the y axis is for the dependent variable, just remember “DRY MIX”-dry stands for dependent, and mix stands for manipulated or independent x-axis

3. Always label the x and y axes and give units

4. When making a scatter plot graph never connect the dots

5. Make graph as large as possible so it is easy to read

Entry # 4 Components of a

HypothesisAn hypothesis is an explanation for an observation or a phenomenon.

So how should you write a hypothesis?

•Identify what the problem is. If you fail to identify the problem, you most certainly will have difficulty writing the hypothesis.

•Make an educated guess as to what direction of the relationship or difference is.

•Identify the major variables.

Examples of Poor Hypotheses

• “Water levels affect the amount of lice suffered by rainbow trout.”

• “Rainbow trout suffer more lice when water levels are low.”

An example of a good hypothesis

• “If water levels are low then Rainbow trout will suffer more lice because there is less oxygen in the water.”

• How could this be even better? Discuss with your shoulder partner and write a suggestion on your whiteboard

Proper Procedures for Warm ups

I need all Monday warm ups to start on an EVEN page so the entire weeks warm ups are on two pages that I can

quickly scan and grade.

DON’T FORGET

THE NON-NEGOTIABLES!!

Slimotosis ENTRY #5Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. Think pair and share the following. Write the answers to the following questions in complete sentences in your journal.1.What is the independent variable?2.What is the dependent variable?3.What would be a good hypothesis?4.What is wrong with Sponge Bob’s decision?