3 Must-Dos to Run Your Science Lab Day with Science Lab Safety in Mind

Lab days are so much fun and they’re even better when students follow science lab safety! How do we make sure students are engaged and following those important science lab safety rules?

In the first two blog posts in this series, I shared an overview of routines and the beginning of class routines. We are in the “during class” routines part of this series. Here are the first four blog posts:

What Are the Important Routines for Classroom Management in the Science Class?

How to Have a Successful Beginning of Class Each Day

3 Ways to Take Notes in Class that Keep Students Engaged

5 Independent Work Ideas and the Routines Students Need to Know

In this post

We will talk about three ways to make sure our science lab days go as smoothly as possible. We need to teach the science lab safety rules, we need to prepare for the lab, and we need to manage our students as they are working in a science lab.

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Teaching Students about Science Lab Safety

When to teach or review lab safety rules Beginning of the year After long breaks Before the start of each lab

At the beginning of each school year, it is imperative that we teach lab safety rules. This can be an introductory for our beginning middle schooler or adjusted to a review for our older middle schoolers. You’ll also want to review lab safety rules after a long break or before you complete each lab.

Lab safety units are usually one to two weeks long, depending on your grade level and if you plan to complete any projects or practice labs. A lab safety contract may be required by your school or district. If not, I highly recommend you use one and have students and parents sign it. This makes it easier if you ever have to remove a student from a lab and email home. You may also be required to give a lab safety test.

You can get a complete 5E Lab Safety Unit here.

Shows a few images of what is included in the lab safety bundle. Image of a lab activity using a triple beam balance, notes pages, lab equipment test, and a lab safety rules power point.

Flinn Scientific has a free printout of lab safety rules. I summarized these rules in my resource 5E Lab Safety Unit because there are a lot of safety rules!

Just like going over your classroom procedures, you want to explicitly teach lab safety rules. You will also want students to practice it. Before each lab, be sure you review your lab safety rules. When I make my lab slideshows, I always put in the slide for safety rules at the beginning.

If students do not follow the lab safety rules, they may need to sit out and complete a reflection sheet. If a whole group of students struggles with following lab safety rules, you may need to start from the beginning and reteach.

You can also complete demos for them until they are ready to complete the lab on their own. I had to do that with one class in the past. I chose a few students from each group to complete the demo (they were the responsible ones) while the other students observed. I’ve also had my own group of students that observed while I completed the demo for them and the rest of the class did the lab on their own.

Preparing for Science Lab

Prepare for a Lab Align with standards Gather materials complete lab yourself prepare any visuals Make lab sheets or have a lab report template set up (you or students set it up)

There are a few things to do to prepare for a science lab. First, you want to make sure the lab aligns with the standard and reinforces what you are teaching in class. You’ll want to gather all the materials you need. And you’ll want to complete the lab yourself before the students do. This will ensure your lab runs smoothly when your class is working.

You may want to prepare a slideshow so students have a visual while they’re working. Some teachers provide a lab sheet for students while others have students write their own lab reports.

Once you’ve done all the preparations, you can set up the lab or have students do that for you. I find it easier on myself to have the materials in one place (already set up on trays). Then my first class brings it to the lab stations where it remains for the rest of the day. They basically help me set up the lab. Then my last class helps me clean up the lab by returning the materials to my lab table so everything is one place again. It makes my clean up a lot simpler.

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Managing Students Working in Science Lab

Managing a lab go through each step with students Give students roles while working in groups Monitor the students while they work Make sure all students help clean up after the lab

Now it’s lab day and students are working. Before they begin, show them your slideshow and review the lab safety rules. Go over the procedure together so they know what to expect. Tell them how they are going to clean up at the end because some students finish faster than others.

I like to have my students write their hypothesis before starting their lab. I give them a prompt for their hypothesis in my slideshow and give them a few minutes to write it. Then we share a few.

You can also assign roles for students during a lab. I usually have a role for someone to get the materials and someone to start the lab. Then they take turns for each step. Everyone cleans up.

When students are working at their lab stations, it is important that you are walking around and monitoring. That is the best way to keep students safe during the lab. It’ll also allow you to help students with the procedure and ask them questions about the concepts. During this time, I have the slide with the procedures showing on the screen.

While students are working, they should be collecting data. Their lab stations should be kept clean as they work, which makes it even faster to clean at the end of the lab. Switch your slides so students have a visual while they are working on each step.

When you notice some students finishing up, put the clean up slide on the screen so students know their next step. You may also want to add what they do when they are done.

Some consequences for students who do not follow lab safety rules are reminder, sit out (and fill out a reflection sheet that you email home), or they observe a demo.

Wrap Up

There are three ways to make sure your science lab days run smoothly each time. Students need to know and follow the lab safety rules. You will prepare for the lab by gathering all materials and completing it yourself first. And you’ll manage by walking around the room when students are completing the lab.