Google Science Journal App Turns Your Phone Into A Lab

Google's making it a bit easier to channel your inner scientist via it new app Google Science Journal. Available now, the Android app puts a research lab in your pocket (or wherever you keep your phone), making it possible to use your smartphone's sensors in ways that may not otherwise be readily accessible. As well, Science Journal can be used to store observational notes, generate graphs, and more.

Put simply, Google Science Journal is an app designed to make 'doing science' simple. The app features tools like light intensity comparisons (using your phone's ambient light sensor), measuring how loud a noise is and comparing it to other noises, and recording other things from your environment.

You can add your own photos and notes to your projects, adding extra details or reminders for your future self. When you add data, the app will generate graphs of it in real time, which you can then use to compare the data to the results from other projects you've completed. The features span the sensors you'll find on your phone — things that involve the accelerometer, microphone, and such.

To help kids get started with their own science experiments, Google has partnered with exploratorium to create "getting started" activities, guiding users through light and audio investigations, using Science Journal with physical devices to record data (wind spinners, in this case), and how to record motions. The app is available now from the Google Play Store.

SOURCE: Google Play