Book: Use graph-lined, sewn composition notebooks (10" x 7 ") so that you make a permanent record of your experiments and results. (Avoid glued books.)
Pen: Use a permanent black pen with a fine point, such as a Tombow Roll Pen, Jr©, a Pilot Precise Rolling Ball V5 or Uni-ball Vision Micro. These are dark black, permanent, and xerox very well. A pencil or water soluble felt tipped pen are not acceptable. Ball point pens have ink which will dissolve under organic solvents.
1) For a table of contents, leave the first two sheets (four sides) blank.
2) The Lab Syllabus should be mounted on the inside of the front cover.
3) Number every right hand page at the top right with odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, etc.
4) Date each page in the upper left hand corner. List new wordstems on the last page.
5) Draw guide lines at lines 1, 3, 6 and 9 along the edge of your closed book.
6) Title each page IN CAPITALS with a specific focused title between lines 1 & 3.
7) Begin the entries below line 9. Enter all data directly into the lab book.
8) Use a fresh page for each experiment. Neatness is of secondary importance, but leave adequate space for ease of future use. Do not tear out any pages.
9) Cross reference pages of related material on line 6 (three spaces below the title). Give the nature of the cross reference: protocol, data, graph, illustration, conclusion, etc.
10) Permanently mount ALL handouts with clear contact paper. Keep intact if at all possible. Mount sequential grade slips inside back cover.
11) Use any excuse for an illustration, since it displays information or data in a manner comprehensible at a glance. (See Notebook Illustrations.) Prevent ink from bleeding through by placing illustrations on the R page, and handouts on the L (or vice versa).
12) For dissections, illustrate: 1) cuts made, 2) spatial & functional relations of organs.
13) For microscopic specimens, illustrate characteristic views to fill at least half a page. Clearly resolve all details observed with labels for all features mentioned in the protocol and/or in Lab. The illustration title goes above, magnification of the view at the lower right. The legend is below, indicating the source, treatment and staining procedure used. Do not hesitate to draw a second illustration to expand on the first.
14) For each new piece of apparatus: illustrate, label and explain all functional features.
15) Color may be added after illustrating with black pen. Use of appropriate color in illustrations can make them more meaningful as well as attractive.
16) Title your graphs precisely, cross reference, label coordinates, note significant phases, especially according to time. Give conditions under which experiment was performed. Show all effects observed, especially according to time or changing conditions.
17) Indent protocols or recipes, leaving space above and below for clarity. Note in detail any changes made in the protocol, difficulties encountered, or future cautions.
18) Draw conclusions, noting the value of the exercise, and, if appropriate, making suggestions for improvement of the experiment. Include in your conclusions not only the "processed" data, but points which could be examined more closely in future experiments and questions which may have arisen as a result of the experiment.
Compare these instructions with the Sample Notebook Grade Sheets which you have received. Note that points are awarded according to the completeness with which you have followed these instructions. Early effort applied to learning correct notebook procedure will pay dividends when your notebook is graded. (Lab work, as evidenced by your notebook comprise 30% of your grade for the course.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Type out your table of contents on a computer, it is much easier and less stressful than on a typewriter. If you do not have a personal computer at home, go to the Computer Lab here at the college and use theirs. There are people to assist you there if you are new to computers. Do yourself the favor.
Use the following single-spaced format for your table of contents. Make an entry in your table for every page. If an experiment continues for several pages, some ditto marks may be used, but indicate the specific aspect or phase of the experiment found on each page. CAPITALIZE HANDOUT SHEETS for ease of location. Trim off excess paper after typing out, mount at the top of the first page in your notebook.
The next time you turn in your notebook, you may either add to the previous table of contents list which you saved on your disk or on your computer, or you may type up the new entries and strip them in directly under the previous entries with contact paper.
Here are suggested margins and tabs to set on the computer for 8.5" x 11" paper:
Set L margin at 1", R margin at 6.5". Set Tabs at 1.5" for the topic and 6" for entry date.
entry
page topic date
cover SYLLABUS 3/27/00
i Table of contents 3/27/00
ii Table of contents 3/27/00
1 First Day's Lab notes on notebook use 3/27/00
2 LABORATORY NOTEBOOK PROCEDURE 3/27/00
3 Introductory Field Hike notes 3/27/00
4 FORMAT FOR TABLE OF CONTENTS 3/27/00
5 Map for Introductory Field Hike 3/27/00
6 NOTEBOOK GRADE SHEET, sample 3/27/00
etc
These lists should be single spaced, numbered chronologically, giving the common name, the scientific name (in correct format and in italics or underlined), the family name, the date first observed, and the page number in your notebook where information about its sighting is to be found. Look up the scientific and family names in the field guides listed in the syllabus (on reserve in the library). Spring wildflowers should be entered into the list when they are first observed blooming so that the list is a record of blooming times.
[tabs: 1.31" 2.75" 4.38" 5.38"6.13"]
notebook
No Common Name Scientific name Family date page
1 Dandelion Taraxacum officinale Compositae 3/27/00 p. 2
2 Queen Anne's Lace Daucus carota Umbelliferae 3/27/00 p. 2
Handout sheets should be permanently mounted in your notebook using contact paper, forming a protective, transparent cover, and ensuring that you will not lose them.
MATERIALS:
Use clear, transparent contact paper which has a smooth surface (no embossed pattern). Otherwise, the specimen will be obscured. The most suitable brand was "Adhere", but appears to be no longer available. "Con-Tact" Clear and "Kwik Kover II" are readily available and are suitable. You may wish to try a different brand. Use these criteria for evaluation: clarity of detail of mounted specimen, ability to reposition an incorrectly placed specimen, ability of the contact paper to be written upon with ink (especially your TOMBO Pen, or india ink), cost, tendency of adhesive to creep out beyond edge of the contact paper, resistance to yellowing.
PROTOCOL:
1. Date and title the page in your notebook (date = day protocol is mounted). Add any written notes relating to the handout first since writing on contact paper is difficult.
2. Cut away all excess paper on printed handout.
3. Placed trimmed handout on top of unrolled contact paper, cut contact paper so that at least 1/2 inch margin projects beyond the specimen. The final dimensions should be smaller than the size of the notebook page. (Some prefer to cut rolls of contact paper in half which then approximates the desired page height.)
4. Strip off the backing from the contact paper without creasing the contact paper. (Start it by slightly tearing backing paper.) Lie it on the table sticky side up.
5. CRITICAL STEP: Hold trimmed specimen above contact paper so that the printed side is down, and margins are even. Bow the sheet and lower center down onto adhesive. Roll down specimen evenly onto contact paper, avoiding bubbles, creases, wrinkles, etc. Press out from the middle out to adhere to adhesive. Do not attempt to pull printed material off contact paper, the ink will stick to the adhesive (what a mess).
6. Trim any excess margin from around the specimen, but try to preserve the 1/2 inch margin.
7. Position contact-papered specimen into place in notebook, as close as possible to the bottom of the page, leaving space at the top for title, date & cross references. Make sure the sticky edges do not project beyond the edge of the page. Press from the middle out to adhere edges.
8. Cross reference at the top of the page where to find your related class notes, illustrations, or related protocols may be found. On each of those pages, cross reference to the newly-mounted protocol.
9. You may wish to make a pocket at the back cover to carry scraps of contact paper, but save space for your sequentially mounted grade slips.