REAL WORLD OF “SCIENTISTS” Examples of Science Notebooks from the REAL WORLD OF “SCIENTISTS” The scientists’ notebooks featured in this section come from those working at Battelle Pacific NW National Labs.

Early Efforts to Keep a Science Notebook

In the spring of 1869, a young amateur naturalist named John Muir visited what was to become Yosemite National Park. He kept a daily journal that summer, excerpts of which eventually made it into The Atlantic Monthly in 1911, shortly before the entire journal was published under the title My First Summer in the Sierra.                                                         

In between musings about the diverse environment around him, Muir contemplates the tiny ecosystem that exists on the clothing of his companion, the shepherd: “His trousers in particular have become so adhesive with the mixed fat and resin, that pine-needles, thin flakes and fibers of bark, hair, mica-scales, and minute grains of quartz, hornblende, etc.,…”

“feathers, seed, wings, moth and butterfly wings, legs and antennae of innumerable insects, or even whole insects such as the small beetles, moths, and mosquitoes, with flower-petals, pollen dust, and indeed bits of all plants, animals, and minerals of the region, adhere to them, and are safely imbedded, so that, though far from being a naturalist, he collects fragmentary specimens of everything, and becomes richer than he knows”…

“The man is a microcosm; at least our shepherd is, or rather his trousers. These precious overalls are never taken off, and nobody knows how old they are, though one may guess by their thickness and concentric structure. Instead of wearing thin they wear thick, and in their stratification have no small geological significance.”

Computational Chemist “Something wrong with this”

Computational Chemist “will have all of these checked for instability and optimize”

Reference graphs and tables pasted into notebook Materials Scientist

Materials Scientist Sample sketch

Materials Scientist Results (crossed out)

ECOLOGIST Describing the problem – the purpose of the study

ECOLOGIST Identifying the site including selection criteria

ECOLOGIST Specifications regarding the Elk Enclosures

Tips to Remember Always date each page Always number pages at bottom Update table of contents frequently Never white out data…cross out instead It is ok to make comments about accuracy or any concerns/issues…these are part of observations! Drawings should be included! Be clear so as someone else can follow what you did Other?

Notebook Check What makes a great PowerPoint? Every Monday, starting next Monday! Also you must fill out the SRS Weekly Progress Report Tuesdays will be mini-lesson for the first 30 minutes My RNAi, Mito DNA and fluorescent dinos groups will meet every Thursday and Friday, plus whenever you need to take care of plants and other data Finish any missing paperwork (ISEF papers due ASAP); Work on PowerPoint-will start sharing in December What makes a great PowerPoint?