Earth Systems Field School
Biosphere 2 Center/Columbia University

FIELD NOTEBOOKS

Taking good notes in the field is a skill that is developed over a long period of time and now is a good time to begin. It is important to take notes that can be read and understood by others as well as yourself. Your handwriting must be legible.

Document what you observe and separate what you observe from your interpretations of these observations. Include your hypotheses. Note-taking in the field is not always numerical. It usually includes sketches and details about some aspect of your work that should be remembered when evaluating your data or to help you image your data. You have plenty of space in your field notebooks; use it.

Listed below are the criteria around which we expect that you will organize your field notebooks. Leave room at the beginning to create a table of contents. Put your name and address in the field notebook so that if lost, it can be returned.

1. Date, time, persons working with you, location, and local conditions.

2. Goals/objectives.
Make a bullet list of things you want to accomplish during each day in the field or on a project.

3. Data gathering and recording.
Record your data in a logical and clear format (often this can be a table or chart format). Data can be accompanied by drawings/sketches to illustrate aspects of your data-gathering.

4. Interpretations.
Your interpretations at the end of each day, how this might shift what you do the next day. A list of goals for the next day may be included.

5. Summary.
At the end of a project or trip, you should summarize what you did. This includes how your hypotheses fared under scientific scrutiny, what you learned, and how might you do this project differently in the future. Record any questions you still have.