Laboratory Notebooks in High School Chemistry as a Tool for Students to Understand and Collaborate

Students and teachers often view laboratory investigations as exercises in following directions, which grossly misrepresents the scientific process. Experimentation involves careful and methodological application of scientific principles, in which peers critique communicated results. This type of communication is used regularly in academic institutions as a primary research tool and organization. Thus, keeping a laboratory notebook allows students to more authentically participate in the scientific process, as well as practice skills required of them in higher education.
This lesson provides a guiding structure of lab write-up and notebook use for students.This methodology can be applied to a wide scope of investigations In this example, students will design a simple experiment, the synthesis of sodium acetate, for the purpose of making a hand warmer. Students will use their lab notebook to set up the experiment design, mathematically predict stoichiometric relationships, and experimentally confirm those predictions, and record results.