Google Science Journal

Teachers can use Science Journal by Google to help students design and conduct their own investigations. Use the Getting Started activities on the Making & Science website to familiarize students with the tool. Each one takes only about 15 minutes. 
If it works with your content, have students follow the detailed instructions to design, build, and test their own wind spinners. Otherwise, once students have spent some time playing with the app, encourage them to plan and carry out their own experiments. 

Features of Google Science Journal

Google Science Journal is a platform that provides science resources and ideas for students and teachers. Its best feature is likely to be its use of native hardware on your phone, like accelerometers, light meters, and more–to help ‘do the science.’ In this way, it combines ideas (e.g., for experiments) and tools (an app that uses your phone’s built-in technology) in an attempt to be a kind of one-stop-shop science platform. 
Further, you can add external sensors your phone may not have for added function and experimentation.

Sensors include:

  • Accelerometer X: the acceleration of the phone to the left and right in meters per second squared (m/s^2)
  • Accelerometer Y: the acceleration of the phone forward and back in meters per second squared (m/s^2)
  • Accelerometer Z: the acceleration of the phone up and down in meters per second squared (m/s^2)
  • Brightness (iOS) or Ambient light (Android): the amount of light detected by the front-facing camera, measured in Exposure Value (EV) on iOS, or by the ambient light sensor, measured in lux on Android
  • Compass: the orientation of the phone compared to the Earth's magnetic field, measured in degrees
  • Linear accelerometer: total acceleration of the phone, excluding gravity, in meters per second squared (m/s^2)
  • Magnetometer: the strength of the geomagnetic field in microtesla (μT)
  • Sound intensity: the intensity of sound reaching the sound sensor or microphone, measured in decibels (dB)
  • Barometer: the atmospheric pressure measured in hectopascals (hPa)
  • Pitch: the pitch of the sound reaching the sound sensor or microphone, measured in hertz (Hz)

Teacher Tutorials