Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

For my science fair this year, I am hoping the examine the effects of ocean acidification on the production of UK'37 alkenones. I would culture different samples of coccolithophorids such as E. huxleyi and add varying amounts of excess CO2 to the headspace of the sample, observe cell growth, pH change and the unsaturation indexes of the alkenones produced. However, I don't know how to keep a logbook. I read the paper by Joanne Rebbeck about keeping a logbook on the science buddies website (it was very helpful), but am unsure about how to organize the logbook. How do I come up with a table of contents? Is that done before I write my log? And should I keep daily observations, research, results, etc. separate and should EACH part have it's own date? Thanks and have a nice day,

Charles Xu

Hi,

There are 2 different approaches to setting up your log book.
Both are described at the following link:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... abnotebook
The first way is the traditional approach, and that is to create the table of contents as you go. So you would label the first page table of contents, and then add items to the table of contents as you fill in your log book.
The second way is to create tabs ahead of time, but you should check with your teacher first to make sure this method is allowed. If it is, and you want to use this method, some recommended tabs would be Timeline, Background Research, Materials, Experimental Setup, Data and Results, Data Analysis and Conclusions. Each tab would be listed in your table of contents.

Whichever method you use, you should definitely enter a date on all your log book entries.

Good luck with your experiment and let us know if you have any more questions.