You and one other student, your lab partner”, will choose one side of a lab station, where you will perform an assigned laboratory experiment. Each station has several drawers where lab equipment is stored. You are responsible for the contents, and must pay for damaged or missing equipment.
Each laboratory experiment has been written or selected by the teacher, and is in the form of a multi-page packet. A lab experiment may require from two to five days to complete all sections. Your presence is mandatory to earn full credit for a given lab. If you are absent during any section of a laboratory experiment, you MUST compensate for missing that section by making it up before school (7:40 to 8:15 a.m.), or during study hall. On occasion, you may have to complete an additional section of text-related work, in addition to the lab-related experimentation. This made up work is added to the lab report for grading.
A completed laboratory packet is handed in at a time designated by the teacher. Generally, several days are given following the actual experimentation for you and your partner to continue the completion process. Each lab project is considered as a test, so it is important to do your very best. Many labs this year will be considered as “double tests”, because of their importance and complexity. The grade earned is the same for you AND your partner. You must collaborate with your partner, which means to utilize active communication skills. Speaking to one another and checking each other’s work, is critical and requires effort.
Handing in lab work late is VERY costly to your grade. Three to five points are subtracted from the earned grade each day of unexcused lateness. Once corrected labs are returned to the class, a lab not handed in receives a zero percentage grade.
Working with chemicals involves inherent risks. You will significantly reduce a chance for injury by following basic rules:
1. You MUST WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES during all lab experiments. Goggles will be assigned.
2. LISTEN to directions when the teacher speaks. The words I speak are designed to provide you with a superior understanding of the tasks you are performing.
3. Any inappropriate conduct will cause you to leave the lab, with no credit for that day’s work. If this seems extreme, consider the consequence of an explosion involving hot concentrated acid.