My science fair logbook

What goes in a science fair log book

A log book is the diary of your project. Each time you work on it, write the date and what you did: getting things ready, every test, and working on your board. For a test, write how many tries you did and which one you tested, so your numbers have a day they came from. Then write what happened, even when it was a surprise or something went wrong. Write it on the day, not at the end: the night before the fair, nobody remembers which day the ramp fell over.

Why judges ask for a log book

A judge can't watch you do your project, so the log book shows them how it really went. The dates show the work happened over days, in order. Every try is in it, not only the best one, so the judge can see where the numbers on your board came from. And a try that went wrong, with what you did next, is real science: that is why scientists keep a notebook too. Bring your log book to the fair and put it on the table in front of your board.

How the tap logbook works

Keep a project from Pick my project, then come here each day you work on it. Tap what you did. If you tested, tap − or + for how many tries and tap the one you tested. Then tap what happened, and the entry is saved with today's date. Peabody reads every entry out loud. When you print it, your question and your three variables (what you change, what you measure, what you keep the same) are at the top, each entry is a dated line with what you did and what happened, and empty lines follow so you can keep writing by hand. Under them is a What I measured table, your levels down the side and your tries across: put your numbers in the graph maker and they print in it already, with the mean, or leave it blank and write them in. Last comes a box for a photo of your test, or a drawing. It all prints in black lines on plain paper, so a copy still reads after a week in a school bag.

Your logbook is kept on this device only and is never sent anywhere; a grown-up can save it as a file to move it to another device. Rather write it all by hand? Print the logbook sheet. The graph maker also draws the graph for your board.