To construct this site, the working group engaged in an iterative process of defining entry types then validating those definitions by examining actual student notebooks. After multiple iterations, this process led to a thorough representation of common ways students record information in their science notebooks and identification of sample student work for each type. The student work reviewed and the samples included on the site were collected from actual classrooms of members of the working group and their colleagues across Washington State. The student work came from all grade levels, and encompasses different demographic groups and geographic regions.

The samples of student work are stored in a searchable database that can be sorted by:

• Grade band (e.g. elementary, middle, high, preservice)
• Discipline (e.g. Earth, Life, Physical)
• Publisher (e.g. FOSS, STC, BSCS)
• Student context (e.g. advanced placement, special education, English language learners)
• Entry type (e.g. drawings, graphics organizers, writing frames)

Student Work Submissions
The real power of this website wil be the number of student samples in the database. Help this effort by submitting samples of your students' work. You may submit your samples online, or through the mail.

Online submissions
Samples of student work can be submitted using the online submission form. Submissions must be in .JPG, .GIF, or .PNG format; filenames must contain only alphanumeric (A-Z, 0-9), hyphen ( - ) or underscore ( _ ) characters.

Scanning tips:

• Please adjust scan resolution to 72-75 dpi.
• Please use the scanner program's cropping utility to crop the image to remove any unnecessary white space.
• If your original document is in black and white or shades of grey, please select Black and White or Grayscale scan types.
• Scan the document as an image rather than a text document.

Digital photography tips:

• Please adjust your camera settings to the lowest possible resolution (also referred to as picture quality). For most cameras, this is a "Web/Email" setting or 640x480 resolution.
• For best results, get a tight shot of the document with very little visible background. You'll want to be as close to the document as possible without blurring the image and/or cutting off edges of the document

Offline submissions
Student samples may be submitted by regular mail:

• Copy student work in black and white or color (as appropriate)
• Download and complete a submission form for each item.  Word .doc   PDF document
• Attach submission form(s) to submitted item(s)
• Mail submissions to:
  
  
  Science Notebooks
  North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership
  Western Washington University
  516 High Street MS-9155
  Bellingham, WA 98225-9155