Title: Scientists Notebook
1Scientists Notebook
Science Math Inquiry and Literacy for Every
Student
2Students Model the way that a Scientist Works
- Each scientists notebook is unique to that
person, that experiment, that situation - The notebook is a collection of thoughts, ideas,
sketches, data, equations a running record of
the scientists thoughts - It is not necessarily organized or neat
- There is no right way or format
3Why Scientists Notebooks?
Essential element to enhance inquiry/kit based
programs
Notebooks reinforce concepts from the
standards/GSE
4 Support a variety of literacy skills in the
science classroom
- Comprehension strategies
- Written and Oral Communication skill
- Vocabulary development (glossary)
- Expository reading skills
- Sharing thinking (Making Meaning Conference)
- Supporting ideas with evidence (Claims and
Evidence)
5A vehicle to drive scientific inquiry
- Moves the focus away
- from the
- traditional experiment/ lab report
- format
6Ultimate Teach Re-teach Situation
- Drives instruction by monitoring student
performance
Weaknesses
Strengths
7Students use notebooks during class
- As a guide and/or reference
- As a place to record
- data,
- observations,
- illustrations,
- reflections
- questions,
- ideas while working
- As a place to collect and record claims and
evidence to support their inquiry - To make thinking visible
- To document their organizational growth over time
- Notebooks
- make
- students
- accountable
- for
- their
- learning
8Using the Scientists Notebook
Activating prior knowledge Asking question
Before.
During.
- Entries from the notebook template
After..
- Content reading and writing related to inquiry
- Making connections
9BEFORE..
Concept maps
KWL
Anticipation guide
Quick writes
Visualizations
I Know/ I Wonder chart
VIP/MVP
FQR
During
10DURINGImplementing the scientists notebook
template
- Focus questions
- Predictions
- Planning
- Data/observations
- Claims and evidence
- Making Meaning Conference
- Conclusions
After
5
11AFTER ..
- Summarizing
- Making connections
- Note taking from a reading
- Key word/key idea drawings
- Compare/contrast charts
- VIP/MVP
- Information circles
- Revisit KWL and I wonder charts
Next
8
12Students Guide to Scientists Notebook
- TITLE OF LESSON
- FOCUS QUESTION (Big Idea)
- What do you have to investigate or figure out in
this lesson that is related to the big idea? - What will be the main question that will guide
your learning? - What, How, Does are good beginnings
- PREDICTION/ HYPOTHESIS
- What do you think will happen (USING PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE) - If I do then will happen because
- I think because
- PLANNING
- (Dont rewrite procedures- use if you need to
design a procedure) - DATA
- Record the data in a way that will make sense to
you later - Paragraph, Bullets, Table/Chart, Drawings,
Graphs, etc. - Title and label diagrams and pictures
- Measurements should be specific, accurate, and
units labeled - NEVER erase your work Simply cross out any
errors - CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE
- MAKING MEANING CONFERENCE
- Make your thinking public in a class discussion
- Turn and Talk
- CONCLUSION/REFLECTION
- Restate the focus question as a topic sentence
- In this investigation
- In this inquiry.
- I (we) learned that..
- Use details from your claims and evidence (data)
chart to answer the focus question. - Every claim must be supported by evidence.
- I (we) liked/did not like because
- My (our) prediction that..was..because.
- This reminds me (us) of.. because.
- I (we) discovered that..
- Now I (we) think that.because
- Refer back to your hypothesis
- My hypothesis was correct/incorrect because
- Record your thoughts after the experiment
(Understandings, Likes, Related Thinking,
Connections) - Include a summative sentence that can be a
restatement in different words of the topic
sentence.
13 THE FOCUS QUESTION
- What will be the main focus of the inquiry?
- What, How and Doesare good beginnings
- Students may need to be prompted or given an
example or a list to chose from. - or
- Showing the materials to students and asking
questions like" What can we find out
about..by using these materials? - or
- Ask questions like What might we want to find
out about..? - or
- An engaging scenario
14THE PREDICTION/ HYPOTHESIS
- What you think will happen (USING PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE) - If I do then will happen because
- I think because
- Students will need some prior knowledge to make a
meaningful prediction. - If not
- Readings
- Video segments
- Demonstrations
- Students work in collaborative groups to develop
sound and well written hypothesis based on their
prior knowledge - Not all activities will need this entry
15THE PLANNING
- The Materials List
- What you will need to conduct the experiment
- The Procedure
- Tell what you will do with the material
- List the steps
- PLANNING (Dont rewrite procedures- use if you
need to design a procedure) - Not necessary for activities that have a
procedure in the student guides - May be essential if students are creating a plan
to carry out an experiment in order to address
their focus questions
16THE DATA
- Record the data in a way that will make sense to
you late - Paragraph, Bullets,
- Table/Chart, Drawings, Graphs, etc.
- NOTE
- Title and label diagrams and pictures
- Measurements should be specific, accurate, and
units labeled - NEVER erase your work Simple cross out any errors
- Work toward student generated data tables
- However
- Have a model data chart on the overhead
- Have graph and chart templates available for
pasting into notebooks (if needed) - Copy and reduce size of the templates from
student worksheets - Give students more complex illustrations and have
them label key parts or create a key
17THE CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE
- What do you claim to be true?
- How can you prove what you are stating? (Back it
up) - I know this to be true because I observed
- I claim that when , then .. (happens)
Put claims and evidence in chart form
18THE MAKING MEANING CONFERENCE
V I T A L
- Make your thinking public
- Class discussion
- Turn and Talk
- Discussions can be small group or whole class
- Students should revisit and revise their claims
and evidence
19CONCLUSION/REFLECTION
- Refer to the focus question to create a topic
sentence - Use the claims and evidence chart as a graphic
organizer to write your conclusion. - If students made a prediction have them determine
its validity were they correct or incorrect and
why. - Extend learning with after reading strategies
- Make connections to real world applications
20What are the differences?
- Journals
- Reflections of student learning
- Used after work is done
- Logs
- Books where students record data
- Used during an investigation
- Notebooks
- Records planning, thinking, data and reflections
- A tool to use before, during, and after an
investigation
21The Notebook
- Determine the type of notebook
- Composition book
- A spiral notebook
- A three ring binder
- A three prong paper folder
- What type of notebook will you use?
- Use what works in your classroom
22Reference
Science NotebooksWriting About Inquiry Brian
Campbell Clark County School District, Las Vegas,
NV Lori Fulton, Clark County School District,
Las Vegas, NV