Summary
In this lesson, students will analyze real Safety Data Sheets for common household chemicals, discussing the sheets' most important features. Then, working with groups, students create their own lab safety posters, integrating the safety guidelines they discussed with their peers. This lesson is intended to help students understand lab safety in the science classroom. It also functions as a great stepping point for moving into the standard tagged below, addressing the properties of matter related to chemicals used in the science lab.
Essential Question(s)
How do scientists determine the safest way to handle lab chemicals and materials, and how do they communicate this?
Snapshot
Engage
Students watch a video about the “Rules of the Mogwai” (from "Gremlins") and brainstorm common safety rules to discuss with their peers.
Explore
Students evaluate their prior knowledge of chemical safety with a Card Sort activity. Then, students analyze real Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to determine proper handling, storage, and safety information for various household chemicals.
Explain
Students participate in a class discussion to highlight the key features found in SDS sheets.
Extend
Working in groups, students create safety posters for specific chemicals, detailing important information that might be needed in the event of an emergency.
Evaluate
Using the Gallery Walk strategy, students utilize a rubric to evaluate each their peers' safety posters.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Lab Safety Poster Rubric (attached; one per group of students)
Safety Symbol Card Sort (attached; one per group of students)
SDS Resources (attached)
Stop and Jot handout (attached; one per group of students)
Student devices with Internet access (optional)
Poster paper
Art supplies (markers, paper, etc.)
Engage
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the instruction, beginning with slide 3. Share the lesson's Essential Question: How do scientists determine the safest way to handle lab chemicals and materials, and how do they communicate this? Ask students to consider these questions as they explore the main ideas presented in the lesson. Move to slide 4. Play this video, also linked on the slide, and show students the picture of a Mogwai and a Gremlin on the slide.
Go to slide 5. Ask students to brainstorm with an Elbow Partner what common safety rules they have have often heard growing up.
Ask students to brainstorm with an Elbow Partner what safety rules they have heard in science class.
Move to slide 6. Ask students if they can name the item displayed on the screen. Do the same with slide 7, then slide 8. Then, ask students if they noticed anything the three items had in common.
Explore
Go to slide 9. Place students in groups, and give each group a prepared set of the attached Card Sort. Using the Card Sort strategy, have students match the safety symbols to the category of the hazard and the description of the hazard. One example is shown on the slide. When students feel they have matched the three groups correctly, inform them that the Card Sort will be revisited later, so they should keep their groupings together but can put the cards aside for a little while.
Go to slide 10. Have each group access a different SDS from the list (or give each group a copy of a different SDS sheet). Additionally, give each group a copy of the attached Stop and Jot handout. Vary which SDS you give to each group to minimize overlap between groups. Have students analyze their SDS document according to the Stop and Jot strategy and the handout, which features guiding questions for students to answer as they read their SDS. When finished, have each group switch its SDS with another group, then analyze the new SDS. Repeat until all groups have viewed and analyzed an SDS for three different materials.
Explain
Begin this phase by asking students the following question: "What were some of the key features you found on all the documents?"
Go to slide 11. Tell students that all the sheets they viewed should have the same 16 categories that inform the user of safety information about the material. Use slides 12 and 13 to point out some of the categories on the example sheet. Be sure to specifically mention the safety symbols on slide 13. Ask students, "What is the point of these safety symbols? How are they beneficial?"
Ask students to revisit their Card Sorts. Go to slide 14 to reveal the answers to the Card Sort. Let students look over these answers.
Go to slide 15. Ask students, “If we were to create and display safety posters for hazardous materials we commonly use, what information would we include?” List the students’ responses on a whiteboard or projector space. Ask the students to consider the sheets they viewed earlier. Help them come up with the list as needed. What students note here will function as the requirements for students’ final safety posters.
Extend
Go to slide 16. Invite students to work with their groups to create a lab safety poster for the last material for which they saw the SDS in the Explore activity.The poster should include all of the important information from the list created during the Explain phase. Encourage students to exercise their own creativity in making their posters creative, colorful, and informative. To begin, go to slide 17, and hand each group a copy of the attached Lab Safety SDS Poster Rubric to guide their poster creation. Allow groups enough time to construct their posters.
Evaluate
Place groups' posters around the room. Move to slide 18. Make sure each group has three copies of the Lab Safety SDS Poster Rubric. Ask students, using the Gallery Walk strategy with their groups, to view a classmate's poster together for three minutes and provide feedback on the rubric. Each group should stand at a different poster. Once each group has done so, ask students to leave the filled rubric at the base of the poster and rotate to a different poster. Repeat the process until all three rubrics have been filled and left with the appropriate posters.
Once the Gallery Walk is complete, have students review the feedback from the rubrics and make adjustments to their posters as needed. When they are finished, have students use the same rubric to give a summative assessment of their own final product.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card Sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506976b
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow Partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/ccc07ea2d6099763c2dbc9d05b00c4b4
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk / Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505a54d
K20 Center. (n.d.). Stop and Jot. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f5077921
Warner Bros. Entertainment. (2012, April 27). Gremlins | Rules | Warner Bros. Entertainment. YouTube. https://youtu.be/OrHdo-v9mRA