Journals and student logs allow for a more informal style of writing. Although it is important for students to be able to write a proper essay, it is also important to give students the opportunity to be creative and not be constrained by the structure of an essay. The nice thing about journal entries is that unlike an essay or research paper, which has a clear structure, there is more flexibility to look like whatever the teacher or student wishes for it to be. Variables are conditions that can affect the outcome of an experiment. Good scientists try to eliminate as many variables as possible from their experiments so that they are getting the most accurate results.