Many teachers use writing in science as a recording tool (science notebooks) or to find out what students have learned (constructed response tests). Yet writing experts Judith Langer and Arthur Applebee (1987) tell us that writing to evaluate knowledge and skills is only one of several purposes for writing. According to their framework, writing in science classrooms can also: 1) draw on prior knowledge to prepare for new activities, 2) foster new learning, 3) consolidate and review ideas, and 4) reformulate and extend knowledge.