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    High School Lab Notebook Requirements

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    James Washington
    This document provides guidance on keeping an effective laboratory notebook. A lab notebook is a permanent record of all experiments and observations. It allows researchers to organize their work, identify potential issues, and enable others to reproduce experiments. Notebooks should use permanent ink and never have erased or blank pages. All procedures, observations, data, sketches and conclusions should be thoroughly documented chronologically. Proper formatting and organization is important to make the notebook a clear and useful reference.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    High School Lab Notebook Requirements

    Uploaded by

    James Washington
    75 views2 pages
    This document provides guidance on keeping an effective laboratory notebook. A lab notebook is a permanent record of all experiments and observations. It allows researchers to organize their work, identify potential issues, and enable others to reproduce experiments. Notebooks should use permanent ink and never have erased or blank pages. All procedures, observations, data, sketches and conclusions should be thoroughly documented chronologically. Proper formatting and organization is important to make the notebook a clear and useful reference.

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    High School Lab Notebook Requirements

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    This document provides guidance on keeping an effective laboratory notebook. A lab notebook is a permanent record of all experiments and observations. It allows researchers to organize their work, identify potential issues, and enable others to reproduce experiments. Notebooks should use permanent ink and never have erased or blank pages. All procedures, observations, data, sketches and conclusions should be thoroughly documented chronologically. Proper formatting and organization is important to make the notebook a clear and useful reference.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    75 views2 pages

    High School Lab Notebook Requirements

    Uploaded by

    James Washington
    This document provides guidance on keeping an effective laboratory notebook. A lab notebook is a permanent record of all experiments and observations. It allows researchers to organize their work, identify potential issues, and enable others to reproduce experiments. Notebooks should use permanent ink and never have erased or blank pages. All procedures, observations, data, sketches and conclusions should be thoroughly documented chronologically. Proper formatting and organization is important to make the notebook a clear and useful reference.

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    THE LABORATORY NOTEBOOK

    What is a Laboratory Notebook?


    A laboratory notebook is a permanent record of every experiment and observation you do. It provides a
    means to organize your thoughts and retain useful information. It also allos you to identify hat might have
    gone rong if you do not achieve your desired result. In an educational environment! the lab notebook also
    provides a ay for evaluating your performance.
    "he ultimate purpose of a laboratory notebook is to provide a thorough record of all the information
    necessary for someone else to reproduce your experiment. Anyone should be able to pick up your lab
    notebook and be able to pick up here you left off or reproduce your results. #or scientists! a laboratory
    notebook may be critical to securing patents and settling disputes in a court of la. $xamples of this are
    Alexander %raham &ell and "homas $dison. "hey both fought battles in court over priority of inventions and
    the laboratory notebooks ere deciding factors in many of those cases. "o excellent examples of
    laboratory notebooks for us to look at are those of 'ichael #araday and "homas $dison.
    (eeping clear! thorough records is a vital part of any laboratory process! and it is a critical skill for any )"$'
    student and orking scientist. "hese records provide evidence that your ork meets many college and
    university science department*s standards.
    "hings to +emember,
    Alays use blue or black permanent ink that does not bleed through the paper. -encils and erasable
    inks are not alloed.
    . /ne exception, 0olored pencils may be used to make draings of your observations.
    0olored pencils are favored over colored markers as they allo for more precise details and
    shading of colors.
    Alays rite legibly1 2se manuscript or block letters instead of cursive.
    Never erase or use Whiteout1 If you make an error! dra one line through the mistake so that the
    original entry is still legible. 3ate and initial the strikethrough and! if necessary! include a brief note
    explaining the reason for the error.
    3o not leave any hite space in your notebook. When you complete an experiment! cross out the
    hite space that remains at the bottom of the final page. -ut a 4 56 across any blank pages.
    Never rip out pages1 2se each page chronologically and do not skip any pages.
    Never leave the lab ithout completing the lab notebook record for that lab. Alays record your
    observations as you make them. It is considered scientific misconduct to try to recreate hat you did
    later or try to remember your results and enter them after the fact. 3o not trust your memory1
    )etting up a Laboratory Notebook,
    "he laboratory notebook should be a permanently bound book. Looseleaf! spiral! and loose papers are not
    acceptable. &inding should be sen and the covers should be hard. "he pages should not be perforated.
    Notebooks such as 7889page 'ead hardbound composition books ork ell. 0omposition books ith
    :uad9ruled sheets make excellent lab notebooks, tables! graphs! and diagrams can be laid out neatly.
    -rint your full name on the front cover of the notebook as ell as the date you started using the
    notebook and its volume number ;if applicable<.
    /n the inside cover! include contact information should your notebook ever gets lost. Include your
    name! email! mailing address! home phone number! instructor*s name! and any other pertinent
    information.
    +eserve the first 4 pages for a "able of 0ontents. "itle the 7
    st
    page! 4"able of 0ontents.6
    )tarting on the 5
    th
    page! number every page in the notebook. -lace the page number in the top
    outer corner.
    $ach experiment or observation begins on a new page.
    2se the right hand page for recording information. 2se the left hand page for additional notes!
    observations! errors! and last minute procedural changes. "he left side is your 4scratch paper.6
    With each lab! update the "able of 0ontents. Include the page number and title of the lab.
    Leave a few pages at the end of your notebook for +eference notes. Write universal constants!
    e:uations! and other useful information you may need.
    Lab #ormat,
    Introdction! "his can be ritten before you do the experiment.
    "ate = format, 'onth day! year ;i.e. #ebruary >! ?87@< or day month year ;i.e. > #ebruary ?87@<
    Tit#e = A brief! concise! yet descriptive title or the title from the lab manual. If using a lab manual!
    also give the source of the experiment ;i.e. 4$xperiences in &iology pp A6<.
    $rpose = /ne to to sentences describing the goal of the experiment.
    H%pothesis = What do you think ill happen and hy? 'ake sure the statement is 4testableB6 an if9
    then statement is suitable to illustrate hat criteria ill support your hypothesis.
    $articipants = Who is doing hat and hen.
    &ateria#s 'sed = 'ake a list of ALL items used in the lab. Include any chemical formulas! physical
    properties ;i.e. boilingCmelting points! density! etc.<! hazards! safety measures! etc. #or organisms!
    include their binomial name! type! etc.
    $#anned $rocedres = "he procedures you expect the follo as you have created or as outlined in
    your lab manualCtextbook.
    "ata! "his is ritten as you actually do the experiment1 Write every little thing don1 It*s all in the details1
    $ven the most trivial or obvious of things may be of critical importance later1
    $rocedre = )tep9by9step explanation of hat you are doing. Note any deviation from your planned
    procedures and the reasons. Anyone should be able to read your procedure and repeat the
    experiment.
    "ata = All dataCobservations as you are doing the experiment. "his should be in9line ith your
    procedure entries. If orking ith a lab partner! include only data and observations that you
    personally observe. Include any mistakes made and hat as planned or sone to correct the errors.
    As you collect data! date everything. -ersonal thoughts ;Success at last! Third time lucky!< are
    encouraged1 "his notebook is yours1
    (a#c#ations
    )*etches + I,ages = Label all sketches and images ith significant features. Indicate
    magnification used! any special staining protocols! etc.
    Ta-#es + .raphs = Add if needed to organize data or sho relationships beteen variables.
    2sing preprinted forms for standard reactions can save time1 All tables and graphs should
    be labeled appropriately.
    (onc#sion!
    Res#ts = "his is a one to to paragraph summary. 3o you accept or reDect the hypotheses?
    $xplain hy using the data from the lab. Include data such as averages! highest! loest! etc to help
    the reader understand your results. 3o not 0/-E your dataB summarize and give ($E information.
    3iscuss possible errors that could have occurred in the collection of the data.
    Answer /estions = as needed = If your lab manual or textbook asks :uestions! anser them here.
    Eou may reference the :uestion instead of riting the :uestions again yourself.

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