5 Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks

In 5 Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks, several ideas are presented in support of elementary students using notebooks to express their scientific thinking. I appreciate the idea of allowing students to write for thinking, as this is a skill that can be applied to every problem students need to address. Younger students can start to draw and write questions and think more broadly about scientific concepts. And older students can start to use academic language and expand their base of knowledge and research. (Not that younger students should be discourged from using more complex words. There is nothing better than a first grader talking about photosynethesis or the habitat of their hamster.)

 

Sometimes students, especially younger ones, become so excited when presented with a new scientific concept or process they don’t think thoughtfully but shout out many questions as soon as they pop into their minds. Last year I attended a presentation on animal habits such as migration, hibernation and adaptation. Someone from the local nature center presented students with various pelts and some stuffed animals. Several students could hardly contain themselves as they continuously raised their hands throughout almost the entire presentation. My son, on the other hand, is a very thoughtful student and rather quiet. He never raised his hand to ask a single question, but I know from past experience he had many. In this situation a notebook would be beneficial for both types of students. The more exuberant students would be forced to slow down and form more reflective questions and the teacher could see the more quiet student’s insights. Obviously kindergarteners shouldn’t be expected to write in a notebook but they could draw pictures to reflect their ideas, predications and conclusions.

I also think keeping your ideas and thoughts about science lessons in one place would be a good resource for students to refer to throughout the year. Seeing how their thinking processes have expanded is useful for both student and teacher. If teachers can collorabrate with other teachers and refer to books from several classrooms it would help guide instruction and bring forward new ideas. As a beginning teacher I will need all the guidance I can get.