Safety first, experiment later

Science World, Sept 27, 2002

The lab seems like one cool place; that's where scientists find cures for diseases or figure out why the sky is blue. But It's also loaded with potential hazards! Before you touch a microscope or test tube at your school's lab, take this quiz to find out how much you know about lab safety.

1. It's your first trip to the lab. You want to make a good impression. What should you wear?

a. rubber bodysuit and gas mask

b. flip-flops and baggy shorts

c. prom dress or tuxedo

d. safety goggles, tied-back hair, and sneakers

2. You can't tell if gas is running to the unlit Bunsen burner sitting on the table. So you

a. lean in and smell.

b. wave a match over it.

c. check to see if the gas is actually turned on.

d. carefully stretch a balloon over the opening to see if it will inflate.

3. How do you light a Bunsen burner?

a. Bring the match up from the bottom.

b. It makes no difference how you light it.

c. Bring the match down directly over the top.

d. Trick question. It runs on batteries.

4. You mixed up your beakers of hydrochloric acid and water. To tell them apart you

a. take a few refreshing sips.

b. pour some on your arm to see if your hair discolors.

c. inhale the aroma.

d. take litmus paper to check the pH level of each.

5. Debris flew into your eye. Which answer is not helpful?

a. Hold your eyelid open and run flesh water over your eye for several minutes.

b. Vow to never forget to wear goggles again.

c. Go to the school nurse immediately after your eyewash.

d. Blame your lab partner.

6. Your bread mold experiment is growing into a nice green blob in a petri dish. You want to examine it more closely so you

a. poke and squish the fuzz.

b. take a strong whiff.

c. only open the lid to take a small sample, then observe under a microscope.

d. give it a nibble and compare its taste with that of fresh bread.

7. You didn't pay attention when the teacher gave out instructions. So you

a. ask your lab partner. He seemed alert.

b. send yourself to the principal's office.

c. watch what everyone else is doing and go with the flow.

d. read over the instructions and then ask your teacher for help.

8. Working in the lab is making you severely thirsty. So you

a. get a squirt from the distilled-water bottle.

b. stick your head under the tap of the sink.

c. don't drink anything until you leave the lab.

d. get a clean cup and fill it from the sink.

1. d 2. c 3. a 4. d 5. d 6. c 7. d 8. c