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In 1996, Larry Duff, Ed.D. of
Omaha, Nebraska released the results
of a lab safety survey he conducted
of junior and senior high school
physical science/chemistry teachers
in Nebraska. The response rate
to his survey was over ninety-five
percent.
Two very important findings came out of this survey.
1) In grades 9–12, seventy
percent of all accidents occurred
at the ninth grade level.
2) Ninety-three percent of
all teachers surveyed said the
largest reason for accidents occurring
in the science lab was "Students'
failure to carefully read and
understand laboratory activity
instructions."
Do you agree with these findings? Do these findings sound familiar to your school? Why do most high school science laboratory accidents occur at the ninth grade level?
Here are a few possible reasons we hear from science teachers.
1) Due to overcrowding and lack of laboratory space, ninth grade science is always the first to be relocated to a non-science room that is not equipped to teach science safely.
2) Physical science curriculum is poorly written. At many schools it is a hand-me-down from the higher grades. Poorly written curriculum means poorly written lab instructions.
3) First year teachers who
would rather be teaching chemistry
or biology get "stuck" teaching
ninth grade science because of
lack of seniority. Could the lack
of work experience and having
not been trained in safety in
college be part of the problem?
In Dr. Duff's study over fifty
percent of the teachers reported
they had no formal training in
laboratory safety.
4) Are school budget dollars fairly allocated? Does ninth grade science receive fewer dollars than higher level classes? Does this have an impact on safety?
5) Maturity level and behavior of ninth graders. Teachers tell us this is probably the biggest reason why accidents occur at the ninth grade level. As one teacher put it, "ninth graders are just naturally squirrely. Their hormones are running wild ... it's just a strange and difficult age."
Think about the ninth grade science students at your school. Are most of the accidents occurring at the ninth grade level? If so, why? As a department, begin to think about ways you can reduce the number of accidents at the ninth grade level, while at the same time improving the science experience these students receive.
Accidents occur because of "students' failure to carefully read and understand laboratory activity instructions". When told of this data, teachers simply nod their heads in agreement. If students did a better job following written and verbal instructions, fewer accidents would occur. What can educators do to help solve this problem? Here are a few possible solutions:
1) Instead of the teacher
presenting the prelab safety instructions,
have one of the student lab teams
present the prelab safety instructions.
A portion of their lab grade can
be based on their prelab safety
presentation. Depending on the
number of labs you do a year,
each student lab team should be
able to prepare and present the
prelab instructions 2–3 times
a year. Students can consult their
lab manual, review Material Safety
Data Sheets, look through the
Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference
Manual, consult reference
books like the Merck Index
or perhaps even go "on-line" to
reference safety information via
the Internet (we've listed some
web page locations in the Flinn
Fax! Bulletin Board). Students
will learn and understand important
safety rules if they have to do
the research and present safety
instructions to their peers. Maybe
the safety message you want your
students to hear will be better
understood when it's coming from
someone other than you.
2) Another possible solution is to pretest students on the techniques, procedures and safety information they must know in order to successfully perform the lab experiments. Students who don't pass the pretest, miss the lab experiment and receive a zero. Yes, a zero is harsh, but students need to understand that they can not enter the lab and perform an experiment unless they fully understand what they are doing.
3) Make sure students read
and understand the safety rules
you have established in the science
lab for conduct and behavior.
A detailed safety contract outlining
the rules of the lab must be the
foundation of your science safety
program. Discuss these rules and
reinforce them throughout the
school year.
The data in Dr. Duff's survey is invaluable. For the first time we have data which not only tells us where most of the high school science accidents occur, but also why. Give ninth grade science students an extra dose of safety training and let's develop techniques to ensure students are prepared to perform lab experiments properly and safely. |
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| © 2006 Flinn Scientific, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction
permission is granted to science teachers who are current customers
of Flinn Scientific, Inc. No part of this material may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including, but not limited to photocopy, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
Flinn Scientific, Inc.
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