5 Tips to Know Before Your First Lab Class 1. 【T1】______ the experiment in advance 【T1】______ ■ Follow verbal 【T

5 Tips to Know Before Your First Lab Class
As students, you do much of your learning sitting inside a classroom, listening to an instructor lecture. Such learning can sometimes feel repetitive and boring. Thus, many students are excited by the fun and the hands-on opportunity to learn. However, they can also become dangerous rather quickly if the proper safety precautions and lab regulations are not respected. To help make sure you stay safe, please follow five tips before stepping foot inside your first lab class:
First, make sure you understand the experiment before it starts. Before leading an experiment, your teacher will likely review the instructions that you and your classmates are to follow in the lab. Besides verbal instructions, you will also typically be provided with a printed guide, often with diagrams and illustrations, explaining the experiment in detail. While your teacher reviews the instructions, it’s critical to follow along so that you know how to perform the experiment safely and accurately once class begins.
Second, wearing the right kind of clothes and gear in the lab helps keep you safe. Because each experiment involves the use of different equipment and chemicals, which vary in their degree of hazard, your teacher should provide you with detail on what to wear to each class, depending on the experiment.
In general, however, you should never wear open-toed shoes in the lab. To mitigate the chance of you catching on fire, remove loose clothing, like scarves, and roll up long sleeves. To that end, you should also remove any dangling jewelry, and if you have long hair, tie it back. Always wear a lab coat or apron, gloves, and goggles when handling chemicals.
Third, be aware of safety equipment and where it’s located. Some common types of lab safety equipment include emergency eye-washers and emergency showers, which should be used when chemicals get into the eyes or on one’s skin; exhaust hoods, which are used to divert dangerous chemical fumes and smoke; and fire blankets and fire extinguishers, which are used to douse fire. You should know how to use each so that you can react appropriately if an accident does occur.
Fourth, fill out your lab form as you conduct your experiment. Often, this form is part of the lab instructions. When conducting the lab, fill out this form as you go along rather than trying to remember everything you did in the lab and filling it in after class is over. This will help ensure you don’t forget to record anything important, such as a precise measurement or detailed observation.
Fifth, complete your lab report as soon as possible after the lab. Lab reports are a more detailed analysis of your experiment and how it connects to a larger scientific concept. Though your teacher will typically give you a few days to a week to finish a lab report, it should be much easier to complete a lab report sooner rather than later as the experiment’s concept and the steps are still fresh in your mind. Plus, finishing your lab report early will give you time to reread it, and revise it when necessary.
Last but not least, we hope that you will find these tips useful and enjoy your first lab class. Thank you.