Watched the video "Lab Accident at Jefferson High" (see below) as an introduction to lab safety.  There are questions embedded in the video towards the end that you can use to help you review for Tuesday's Safety Test.

After brainstorming individually on the question "What is Science?", we watched a diverse group of scientists from all different disciplines share their ideas of what science is.  After reflecting on these thoughts and their own, students finished the following prompt: "Science is..."

• "...the process of developing a new knowledge and understanding of how things work using constructive dreaming and a controlled way of thinking."
• "...the ability to come up with an idea or point, to then collect data to ultimately prove your point and or answer the proposed question"
• "...the systematic, constructive process by which we gain more knowledge, truth, and understanding when we look at the world with curiosity"
• "...the process of how we learn about the world and natural elements through the use of constructive dreaming and experimenting"
• "...how things work at a basic level"
• "...everything and everywhere.  Science is how we learn of ourselves, the environment and the world that surrounds us."
• "...the systematic process that leads humans to knowledge about the natural phenomena occurring in life."
• "...learning from mistakes and continuously thinking of other solutions"
• "...the learning process of discovering the world and ourselves through success, but more importantly, failure"
• "...discovery, exploration, and finding answers for the unknown.  Science finds ways to make the impossible become possible."
• "...the search for understanding and answering the questions to how and why things work."
• "...a study and search to problem solve anything we imagine"
• "...is the thinking and understanding of old and new ideas"
• "...the systematic, deliberate process that leads us to knowledge and fact through a structured and controlled way of thinking"
  
• "...the search for more information and generating new ideas to find out how something works"
  

Our next topic of discussion is laboratory safety, the most important rule of which deals with eye safety.  To demonstrate the effect of an acid splash to the eyes, sulfuric acid was placed on cow eyes for different lengths of time to show the varying level of damage (play the video below for a synopsis of the demonstration and explanation).  Bottom line...chemical damage begins to the eye immediately...it is imperative that you always wear your goggles and act immediately in an emergency.

Lab safety contracts were passed out today; signed copy is due back on Friday, 9/1...lab safety test will be given on Tuesday, 9/5.

We can accomplish this by being ready to learn each day and also by working together collaboratively towards a common goal...developing a deeper, more relevant understanding of the world around us and how chemistry applies to it. We have a flipped classroom, which allows to use active learning methods in our face-to-face time...things like small-group team-based POGIL activities, guided practice exercises, and lab exercises. Today, we focused on why it's important to be able to work in teams. Give a common set of instructions, students found that they were both more confident and produced a better end-product when they worked as a team.