Why a checklist before every lab
An earth science bench has real hazards worth respecting. Rock hammering sends sharp chips flying, dilute acid can splash during the fizz test, and a heavy specimen kit is unforgiving of careless handling. A pre-lab checklist is not bureaucracy — it is the routine that makes safe, prepared work automatic, so that on the day a specimen chips or acid splashes the student's hands already know what to do.
It also does something quieter: it forces the student to arrive ready. The most dangerous lab partner is the one who skimmed the procedure in the hallway. This checklist closes that gap. Print one for every investigation, work top to bottom, and do not pick up a hammer or open the acid until the last box is checked.
The goal is not to follow rules. It is to walk to the bench already knowing the hazards, the steps, and the result you expect.
1 — Safety
Nothing below this section happens until everything in it is done. No exceptions, every lab, every time.
- Splash-proof safety goggles on — over the eyes, not pushed up on the forehead.
- Nitrile gloves on, correct size, no holes; sleeves down and long hair tied back for the acid test.
- Closed-toe shoes and an apron; no loose clothing near the bench.
- The dilute acid's label and safety notes read before the fizz test — how to handle a splash and rinse it off.
- A steady work surface and good light for close specimen work — hand lens, streak plate, and specimens within reach.
- Running water or an eyewash within reach for rinsing an acid splash — you know where it is before you start.
- A place to set used acid drops and rinse water, and a tray to keep specimens from rolling off the bench.
2 — Setup
With safety confirmed, build the bench so the work flows without scrambling mid-lab.
- The full procedure read end to end — not skimmed — so you know what step comes next.
- All tools gathered — hand lens, streak plate, hardness picks, acid bottle — clean and laid out in order of use.
- The right instrument selected for the step — hand lens for luster, streak plate for streak, Mohs picks for hardness, ruler and protractor for a map.
- Specimens and datasets laid out and labeled; you know which readings you need to record and in what units.
- The dilute-acid dropper bottle located, capped, and its label double-checked before the fizz test.
- The stream table or specimen tray set up on a stable surface, with a clear path so nothing gets knocked over.
- Lab notebook open to a fresh, dated page with the title and question already written.
3 — Readiness: the pre-lab questions
This is the section that separates a technician from an earth scientist. Before the first measurement, the student should be able to answer these in writing — in the lab notebook, in their own words.
- What is the question? State, in one sentence, what this investigation is trying to find out or measure.
- What is the earth science? Write the key relationship or principle the investigation depends on — the property that identifies a mineral, the arrival-time difference that locates an epicenter.
- What is my prediction? A specific expectation — the mineral you expect from the properties, the epicenter distance you expect from the seismogram, the front you expect from the weather data.
- What am I measuring, and in what units? Name every quantity you will record, its unit, and its uncertainty.
- What could go wrong? Identify the one or two steps most likely to introduce error, and how you will minimize them.
- What does success look like? Know, before you begin, what a reasonable result would be — so an absurd number raises a flag at the bench, not a week later.
A student who answers all six is not guessing their way through a recipe — they are running an investigation they understand, with a result they can already roughly predict. That is exactly the readiness the lab-notebook entry is built to capture, and the kind of preparation a lab defense is designed to reward.