Science Notebooking

Today I was looking through my old science notebook from when I was about 12, which brought back memories of spending hours reading The Way We Work by David Macaulay and writing down my favorite parts of every chapter, complete with illustrations.

I love notebooks in general, take me to the notebook section of a bookstore and don't expect to get out for a few hours, but notebooks filled with nerdy science facts are my absolute favorite.

I still keep a science notebook today which I use to jot down anything science related that I want to remember. After a museum visit, a science class, or after reading a book about science I write a couple paragraphs about what I just learned. Even if I never read what I wrote again, just writing information down helps me remember it better.

Here are some photos and excerpts from some of my notebooks:

"Woven throughout the lungs are red blood cells which give them their pink color. (Unless you smoke. If you do they will be black.)" ~Lungs, age 12

"Each blood cell has antigens attached to the surface. That is how we tell what type of blood a person has."~ Blood, age 12

"Leukocytes, or red blood cells are globs. They have no shape.
They can move by sticking out one part of their body and pulling
the rest along."~Blood: The Tissue and Blood Disorders, age 12

"Today we visited the rare book collection at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. We looked at books from around the 15th Century. The older the books were the nicer the paper, generally because older paper was made out of cotton and hemp which ages better than paper made out of trees" ~ written on 12/01/2014

"Lampreys are parasites and they bury themselves in their prey by scraping away at the victim's flesh" ~written 11/26/2014

Science notebooks are great proof that science is not bland and boring, but is colorful, fun, and beautiful.