Science Notebooks

7 Activities

Overview

Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists. Sample these easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your program.

Decorate Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Decorate Your Science Notebook

K - 12

1 Hour

By decorating and personalizing their own science notebooks, students develop a sense of ownership over their learning, establishing routines to record observations and reflections as they learn.

Discover Activity

Decorate Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Science Notebooks Across Time

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Science Notebooks Across Time

3 - 12

1 Hour

Students peruse sample pages from the notebooks of many different scientists, including scientists their own age, high school scientists, science teachers, and field scientists dating back to 1905. They consider how scientists have used notebooks over the last several hundred years, and start to think about how they'll use their own.

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Science Notebooks Across Time

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Draw a Scientist

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Draw a Scientist

K - 12

45 Minutes

Students draw their idea of "a scientist doing science." This exercise surfaces students' prior understandings of the nature of science and the demographics of scientists, serving as a launching point for discovering that students, in fact, can be scientists.

Discover Activity

Draw a Scientist

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Introduction to Scientific Sketching

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Introduction to Scientific Sketching

3 - 12

1 Hour

Students learn how to sketch like scientists. You can teach this even if you think you can't draw!

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Introduction to Scientific Sketching

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Organizing Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Organizing Your Science Notebook

K - 12

45 Minutes

Students pop open their science notebooks and get them ready for learning by inserting a Table of Contents, numbering the pages, and completing their first reflective entry.

Discover Activity

Organizing Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Scientific Sketching Practice

STEM, Arts

Grades 3 - 12

Scientific Sketching Practice

3 - 12

45 Minutes

Conducting science involves both careful observation and drawing what you see. Most students won’t know where to start if you ask them to sketch a crayfish, a beaker, or even a rock. Lay the foundation for sketching by explicitly teaching drawing techniques so students can build the confidence and skills they need to sketch during science investigations.

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Scientific Sketching Practice

STEM, Arts

Grades 3 - 12

Sketching for Observation Exercises

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Sketching for Observation Exercises

K - 12

3 Hours

Scientific sketching isn’t about making a pretty picture! It’s about looking at something so closely you notice something new. These exercises help students practice sketching for observation, data collection, and analysis during a science investigation.

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Sketching for Observation Exercises

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Science Notebooks

Grades 3 - 12

7 Hours 15 Minutes

Overview

Decorate Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Decorate Your Science Notebook

K - 12

1 Hour

By decorating and personalizing their own science notebooks, students develop a sense of ownership over their learning, establishing routines to record observations and reflections as they learn.

Discover Activity

Decorate Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Science Notebooks Across Time

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Science Notebooks Across Time

3 - 12

1 Hour

Discover Activity

Science Notebooks Across Time

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Draw a Scientist

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Draw a Scientist

K - 12

45 Minutes

Discover Activity

Draw a Scientist

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Introduction to Scientific Sketching

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Introduction to Scientific Sketching

3 - 12

1 Hour

Students learn how to sketch like scientists. You can teach this even if you think you can't draw!

Discover Activity

Introduction to Scientific Sketching

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades 3 - 12

Organizing Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Organizing Your Science Notebook

K - 12

45 Minutes

Students pop open their science notebooks and get them ready for learning by inserting a Table of Contents, numbering the pages, and completing their first reflective entry.

Discover Activity

Organizing Your Science Notebook

STEM, Nature and Wildlife

Grades K - 12

Scientific Sketching Practice

STEM, Arts

Grades 3 - 12

Scientific Sketching Practice

3 - 12

45 Minutes

Discover Activity

Scientific Sketching Practice