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safety contract

Your health and safety are most important! In the science laboratory, you will be carrying out a number of laboratory activities that could be hazardous to your health and well-being UNLESS they are done by following your teacher's instructions both oral and written. The rules listed below will help ensure your safety. They must be followed at all times. The bottom portion requires your signature and that of your parent or guardian. After both of you have signed the tear-off sheet, it must be returned to your teacher so that you can participate in laboratory activities. Failure to carry out laboratory experiments will result in a lowered class grade and might result in a failing grade in the course. The upper portion of this contract is to be pasted or taped in your science notebook and should be re-read prior to starting each new laboratory activity.

GENERAL RULES

1. Follow all instructions carefully. If you don't understand what you are expected to do, ask your teacher before proceedings.

2. Conduct yourself in a responsible manner whenever you are in the science laboratory. Horse play and pranks are dangerous and have no place in the science laboratory. When you enter the laboratory, do not touch any equipment or chemicals until you are instructed to do so.

3. Eating and drinking is not permitted in the laboratory. Do not use any glassware in the laboratory as a container for food or drinks. Keep your work area neat and clean. If available, wear a lab apron or coat.

4. Know where the safety equipment including the eyewash station, safety shower, fire extinguisher and fire blanket is located. Notify your instructor immediately of any unsafe condition.

5. Use the fume hood when working with gaseous substances. Never put your head inside the fume hood.

6. If a fire drill occurs during a laboratory period, be sure to close all chemical containers, gas and turn off the electricity.

7. Keep your hands away from our eyes, mouth and face when using chemicals or handling preserved specimens. Wash your hands with soap and water before leaving the laboratory.

8. Clean and return all equipment when instructed to do so by your teacher.

9. When handling sharp instruments such as scissors and dissecting instruments, always carry them with the tips and points in a downward position. Always cut away from your body. Hold the instruments by their handles. If a sharp instrument falls off the table, don't try to catch it!

10. Wear goggles when instructed by your teacher. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you wear contact lenses, ask your instructor for non-vented safety goggles. If a chemical should splash into your eye or get on your skin, immediately flush the eye or skin with running water from the safety shower or eyewash station for at least fifteen minutes. Notify your instructor at once. Report any accident including a chemical spill or breaking of equipment to your teacher at once. Notify your teacher of any injury no matter how slight. This includes cuts and burns and chemical splashes on any part of the body.

11. Long hair, hanging jewelry, and loose or baggy clothing are hazardous in the laboratory. Long hair must be tied back. Hanging jewelry and loose clothing must be secured. Sandals are not permitted in the science laboratory. Shoes or sneakers must be worn.

12. Follow instructions for handling chemicals. Do not taste, touch, or smell any chemicals unless told to do so. Don't return unused chemicals to their stock containers. Dispose of all chemicals by following your teacher's instructions. Don't use the sink drains for mixing chemicals.

13. Follow instructions for the handing and dilution of acids and bases.

14. Follow directions for instructions for removing glass tubing from rubber stoppers. Never handle broken glass with your bare hands. Use a dustpan and a brush or broom for cleaning up broken glass.

15. Do not use glassware that is chipped or cracked.

16. Make sure your hands are dry before removing an electric plug from a socket. Report any damaged electrical equipment, including, frayed wires and loose connections.

17. Be very careful when using a gas burner. Keep hair, clothing, and your hands safely away from an open flame. Never point the open end of a test tube that is being heated at yourself or anyone else. Hot glass and hot metal stay hot for a long time. Set them aside to cool on an insulated pad. Remember, hot glass and cold glass look exactly alike.

AGREEMENT

I, __________________________________ of Class _____________________________ have read and agree to follow all of the safety rules in this contract. I will follow my teacher's directions. I am aware that failure to follow these rules is dangerous and may result in my being barred from the laboratory, and that this may result in a failing grade.

Student Signature: ______________________________________________ Date: __________________________

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Your signature indicates that you have read these safety rules and have instructed your child to follow these rules and procedures in the science laboratory.

Parent/Guardian Signature: ____________________________________________ Date: _______________________

lab report format

Each laboratory experiment is different from the next. Therefore, each report will differ slightly in form from the previous one. These instructions are intended as a guide for your use when preparing your lab report. Below is an outline of those things, which should be included in your lab reports.

HEADING

• full name

• full name of lab partners

• class code

• day and date

• period

• station number

• lab teacher's name

• chemistry teacher's name (if different than lab teacher)

PURPOSE

• Explain in your own words, the purpose of the experiment.

PROCEDURE

• Without copying word for word, explain or describe the steps you carried out during the experiment.

RESULTS AND DATA

• Tell the results obtained (if any) of each step in the procedure.

• Include any charts or tables of data collected during the experiment.

• Draw any graphs of the data as indicated in the instructions. Use graph paper for all graphs.

• Show all formulas used and detailed calculations with correct units and units cancellation.

SUMMARY

• Most lab experiments conclude with a series of questions under the heading Summary or Conclusion. Answer all of these questions.

common pitfalls when writing lab reports 

• missing graphs and/or tables

• missing summary questions

• missing diagrams

• missing colors when applicable

• missing or incorrect units

• missing formulas used in calculations

• missing details of calculations

• incorrect units cancellation

• referring to your lab sheet

• copying introduction or procedure word for words

rules

1. If you miss a lab you are expected to go to lab another day of the same week to make it up. Notice that a week (5 school days) can sometimes start on a day other than Monday, check with your lab teacher for the last day of lab.

2. When you make up a lab, check the periods that lab is given on the chemistry lab door (room 140). Ask the make up lab teacher to sign and date your  lab sheet.

3. An unexcused absence from lab is equivalent to a cut.

4. Lab reports are due the week following the experiment.

5. Late labs can only be accepted with a note from parents or guardian explaining the circumstances that led to the lateness.

6. Lateness is penalized.

7. As long as the lab teacher has his or her goggles on, yours are also on.

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