Describes various hazards associated with electricity and electrical usage that can result in fire, explosion, burn, and shock. Presents diverse techniques and methods that one can utilize to protect laboratory personnel from common, yet dangerous, electrical hazards. (Author/JJK)

Gives advice on the legal necessity of safety planning for school science (or other) laboratories. Recommends looking into governmental definitions of the term "laboratory" to determine which educational activities should be covered by safety planning. (WRM)

Explains that mercury is a dangerous substance to use in school science laboratories and gives several examples of mercury poisoning. Lists some precautions that should be taken in case of mercury spillage in the lab. Advocates using non-mercury laboratory equipment and limiting student access to mercury to prevent dangerous situations. (YDS)

Discusses whether it is biologically plausible for an environmental laboratory contaminant to cause fibromyalgia. Presents a study of two populations which indicated that fibromyalgia was occurring at an elevated rate in a building where ventilation was deemed inadequate for laboratory activities. (Author/WRM)

Reports on an ethnographic study of a molecular biology research laboratory called Sally's Lab. Portrays the social and cultural construction of a scientific community by studying the daily practices of the lab members and interpreting these observations. Concludes that there is not one set of experiences that pertain to all members within a given…

Discusses the viability of cognitive apprenticeship for learning science in relation to findings from an investigation of a research project involving high school students working in a university chemical engineering laboratory under the mentorship of a university-based scientist. Reports that students were empowered to seek empirically viable…

Explains how to use galvanotaxis and mutagenesis experiments to study Paramecium's swimming behaviors and ion channel functions. (YDS)

Explores the after-effects on college laboratories of the anthrax mail scare; scientists say the anthrax scare justifies tougher rules on biological agents, but some fear that Congress may go too far. (EV)

We describe an undergraduate laboratory experiment that combines the advantages of problem-based learning with the need for biochemistry students to become proficient in practical laboratory skills. It also avoids the need to obtain ethical approval for recruiting volunteers and eliminates any possible biosafety issues with the handling and…

Choosing what eye and face protection to provide for the high school science laboratory is often a challenge. Science teachers and school administrators may not fully understand the relevant safety regulations and standards or be able to correctly identify the various types of eye protection devices. Although some schools have received training…

A molecule possessing other functional groups that could be hydrogenerated is examined, where a variety of metal catalysts are evaluated under similar reaction conditions. Optimizing organic reactions is both time and labor intensive, and the use of a combinatorial parallel synthesis reactor was great time saving device, as per summary.

An experiment that consists of following the changes in temperature at different depths in a precooled liquid while the liquid slowly warms up to the temperature of the surrounding environment is presented. The experiment might be used in a course on temperature, on heat transmission, and in particular in the study of convection currents.

Two Diels-Alder reactions are described that are suitable for a MORE (microwave-induced organic reaction enhanced) experiment in the organic chemistry laboratory course. A second experiment in which the splitting patterns of the vinyl protons in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of two MORE adducts are used in conjunction with molecular…

The optimal conditions for the crystallization of achiral ethylenediamine sulfate into large chiral crystals that are ideal for polarimetry studies and observation using Polaroid sheets are presented. This experiment is an ideal undergraduate experiment, which clearly demonstrates the chiral crystallization of an achiral molecule.

A computational experiment is devised for advanced inorganic laboratory course that allows the students to explore the structure and bonding patterns of ethene and some heavier analogues. The HOMO-LUMO gaps, double bond dissociation energetics, and optimized geometries of ethene, disilene, and digermene are explored.