Safer Science Elementary School Version

1. Safer ScienceElementary School Version Stephanie Wood Science Specialist, K-12

2. Safety Procedures • Set up a plan for safe science at the beginning of the year. • Include a safety contract with your students • Have a safety quiz and require retakes until everyone gets 100%. File it! • Review safety guidelines during every lab • Never do a demo/lab for the first time in front of students-practice first. • Always demonstrate safer science procedures as the adult in the classroom! Goggles are COOL!

3. Safety for Teachers • Chemicals • Personal Protective Gear • Security • Occupant Load • Heat sources • Clean up • Animals in the classroom

4. Chemicals • Should have an MSDS for any chemical that can be easily accessed in an emergency. • Chemicals include grocery store and household items. • Buy small quantities, no storage necessary! • Some “safer” chemicals for elementary: • Charcoal, alka-seltzer, alum, foil, ammonia, baking powder, baking soda, borax, calcium chloride, chalk, club soda, copper wire, corn starch, cream of tartar, Epsom salts, flour, glycerin, graphite, hydrogen peroxide, iron filings, rubbing alcohol, plaster of paris, salt, sugar, vegetable oils, vinegar, vitamin C

5. Personal Protective Gear • Always wear PPG—teachers and students! • Goggles • Warehouse 253079-25 .72 each • Sanitize by leaving in a bucket of soapy/bleach water overnight. Air dry. • Aprons • Can use plastic or cloth (if washer is available) • Gloves • No latex • Warehouse, vinyl, size small 232734-23 $2.28 (other sizes available)

6. Security • Keep chemicals locked up • Never leave classroom during a lab • Store lab items in an area that locks

7. Occupant Load • Consider your space before a lab activity • You may not have room to invite another class • You may need to move the desks or have students leave book bags outside.

8. Heat Sources in the Elementary Classroom • Strict limitations on heat sources in Elementary Classrooms: • Heat sources should be used by an adult, or in a small group that is directly supervised by an adult. Open flames are not permitted in the elementary classroom. • Water kettles or microwaves can be safer alternatives to hot plates. YES, they may be used in a class for a lab. See District Safety Document.

9. Clean Up • Sharps, broken glass • Place in a cardboard box or hard plastic container with lid so that the person emptying the trash doesn’t get hurt. • Chemical disposal • In the elementary classroom, typical grocery store items can go down the sink or trash. Check MSDS to be certain. • Microorganism disposal • Fill a bucket with 10% bleach solution, place petri dish under water and open. Leave soaking overnight. Drain and rinse. Double bag the used petri dishes and place in trash.

10. Animals in the classroom • Wild animals are NOT permitted (except for visits by professionals such as the Aviary or Zoo) • Special caution/procedures for animals such as chicks & reptiles to avoid salmonella. • Animals raised in the classroom should not be released into the wild (except butterflies)—a plan for chicks, etc… should be made BEFORE starting an egg-hatching lab. • Experiments on animals (other than observations) are not permitted. Animals should be treated humanely.

11. Emergencies • Ventilation • Open windows, doors. Don’t do labs that create dangerous fumes (mixing bleach w/ ammonia, or using sulfur) • Fire • Know where the fire extinguishers are and how to use them. • First Aid • Keep the basics like band-aids and antibacterial soap. Report all incidents immediately (student or teacher incidents). • No elementary has an eye wash, so make sure kids are wearing goggles! • Keep MSDS nearby in case someone ingests something