It is very important to be conscious of the chemistry laboratory safety of your students -- it is important for a student's safety, their fellow students, and the teacher's safety. At any time, a teacher or student may be required to react in a situation.
If you haven't already taken a course, or experienced an in-service session through your school, try to find the time to read about chemistry laboratory safety and/or take a course.
Here's an article by Flinn Scientific that presents ideas for lab safety education for your students:
http://www.flinnsci.com/teacher-resources/safety/general-laboratory-safety/steps-you-can-take-to-prove-you%27re-a-responsible-science-teacher/
Here is a quick overview of lab safety basics:
If you haven't already taken a course, or experienced an in-service session through your school, try to find the time to read about chemistry laboratory safety and/or take a course.
Here's an article by Flinn Scientific that presents ideas for lab safety education for your students:
http://www.flinnsci.com/teacher-resources/safety/general-laboratory-safety/steps-you-can-take-to-prove-you%27re-a-responsible-science-teacher/
Here is a quick overview of lab safety basics:
This video is a bit older, but I showed it a lot in my classroom!
Here are a couple chemistry laboratory safety quizzes:
http://www.flinnsci.com/media/396492/safety_exam_hs.pdf
This quiz could be taken online, and a result printed out:
http://daphne.palomar.edu/safetyquiz/safetyquiz.htm
Teaching chemistry laboratory safety is helpful to the student who can react with more knowledge in an accident situation. Teaching chemistry laboratory safety once at the beginning of the year is not enough, and it will not protect the teacher from being sued over a laboratory accident. A Safety Quiz record can show a pattern of laboratory safety behavior to support the teacher's defense.
I recommend that the teacher address the safety requirements of each lab, ideally stating the requirements in the handout, and enforcing safety behavior in the classroom. I was in the habit of tapping on my goggles to show that my eyes were protected by wearing them properly. Students will perch them on the top of their heads, like sunglasses -- be prepared to enforce proper safety in your classroom!
To read an entry about laboratory safety, and view several labs which include safety issues for each lab, check out my lab book "Chemistry on a Budget" at amazon.com -- it's only $20! It will take a little time to get to you, so order it and enjoy your summer vacation!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
Each lab is presented with two possible report formats -- both labs use the same procedure but each has a different conclusion -- one with 10 questions to be answered as a conclusion, the other with a full laboratory report required. This gives the teacher the option of what type of report is desired, and each version is designed to be just two pages. This way the teacher can photocopy just one 2-sided page per student (saves paper).
Have a good week!
http://www.flinnsci.com/media/396492/safety_exam_hs.pdf
This quiz could be taken online, and a result printed out:
http://daphne.palomar.edu/safetyquiz/safetyquiz.htm
Teaching chemistry laboratory safety is helpful to the student who can react with more knowledge in an accident situation. Teaching chemistry laboratory safety once at the beginning of the year is not enough, and it will not protect the teacher from being sued over a laboratory accident. A Safety Quiz record can show a pattern of laboratory safety behavior to support the teacher's defense.
I recommend that the teacher address the safety requirements of each lab, ideally stating the requirements in the handout, and enforcing safety behavior in the classroom. I was in the habit of tapping on my goggles to show that my eyes were protected by wearing them properly. Students will perch them on the top of their heads, like sunglasses -- be prepared to enforce proper safety in your classroom!
To read an entry about laboratory safety, and view several labs which include safety issues for each lab, check out my lab book "Chemistry on a Budget" at amazon.com -- it's only $20! It will take a little time to get to you, so order it and enjoy your summer vacation!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
Each lab is presented with two possible report formats -- both labs use the same procedure but each has a different conclusion -- one with 10 questions to be answered as a conclusion, the other with a full laboratory report required. This gives the teacher the option of what type of report is desired, and each version is designed to be just two pages. This way the teacher can photocopy just one 2-sided page per student (saves paper).
Have a good week!
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