Cornell Note Taking System

You may have done Cornell notes before in English or History classes. Cornell notes can be done in any subject both during your high school and college experience. In this science class Cornell notes will probably be very similar to taking Cornell notes in other classes, but there may be a few differences. Check out the information below about taking Cornell notes for this science class.

Cornell Notes
Date:
Always write ‘today’s’ date / Biology Topic/Chapter:
A page number and topic/chapter will be on the board write it down in this box.
Questions/Diagrams/Graphs: / Notes: (highlight all vocabulary words)
In this box you have a choice of things you can record:
A Question about the text: Use Costa’s ?s (5)
A Diagram that helps show the meaning of a vocabulary word or idea from the text
A Graph that explains the meaning of a vocabulary word or concept from the text. /
  • Your notes are not just re-copying text, but just the main ideas about what you have read.
  • There’s a line or a space between chunks of information
  • Bullets are used for lists of information to organize notes
  • All “chunks” are numbered
  • All vocabulary/key words are underlined/highlighted in a different color
  • All main ideas highlighted
  • Re-read your notes
  • Added/paraphrased information is in a different color
  • Revisions/corrections in a different color
  • Add comments or references
  • All questions on the left are developed to reflect main ideas in notes
  • Most questions are higher level (Costas Level 2 or 3)

Summary:
You should summarize:
Notes from above. Summarize in a few sentences what the reading was about. This should be a quick synopsis of your reading covering the major ideas.

Cornell Note Examples:

Notes: (from Chapter 1-1: What is Science? Page 3)

Goal of Science:

  1. investigate and understand the natural world
  2. explain events in the natural world
  3. use explanations to make useful predictions

Science is different from other human activities because:

  1. only deals with the natural world
  2. collect and organize information looking for patterns
  3. explain why things happen using tests and evidence

Science: an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world

Questions/Diagrams/Graphs: (left column)

First level:

  • What is Science?
  • What are the three goals of science?

Second Level:

  • How are the three ‘goals of science’related to one another?
  • Which goal of science is the most important?

Third Level:

  • Would a study of Santa Claus be considered science?
  • Astrology is not considered science, so why is astronomy considered a science?

Diagrams/Graphs:

In some note taking situations in class it may be more useful to use the left column for Diagrams or Graphs. Some examples are shown below:

Diagrams: Graphs:

PhotosynthesisAnaphase Line Graph vs. Bar Graph