Why a checklist before every lab
A microscopy bench carries real, if quieter, hazards. Razor blades and broken coverslips cut, stains splash and permanently mark skin and clothing, and an expensive scope punishes rough handling. A pre-lab checklist is not bureaucracy — it is the routine that makes careful, prepared work automatic, so that on the day a section slips or a stain spills the student's hands already know what to do.
It also does something quieter: it forces the student to arrive ready. The most careless lab partner is the one who skimmed the procedure in the hallway. This checklist closes that gap. Print one for every experiment, work top to bottom, and do not pick up a single slide 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 when handling stains, correct size, no holes; sleeves down and long hair tied back.
- Closed-toe shoes and a lab coat or apron; no loose clothing near the bench or the light source.
- The hazards of every stain in use known — iodine, methylene blue, and mounting media noted for staining, first aid, and disposal.
- A sharps protocol in place for razor blades and coverslips — a designated sharps container, and cuts handled before anything else.
- Sink, paper towels, and first-aid kit located — you know where each one is before you start.
- Waste containers identified — you know exactly where used slides, coverslips, and spent stains go.
2 — Setup
With safety confirmed, build the bench so the work flows without scrambling mid-mount.
- The full procedure read end to end — not skimmed — so you know what step comes next.
- Clean slides and coverslips gathered and laid out in order of use, with lens paper on hand.
- Droppers, forceps, and a razor or sectioning tool selected to match the technique the step requires.
- Microscope located; lenses wiped, light checked, and stage set to low power for first focus.
- Stains and mounting media located, labels double-checked against the procedure, and freshness confirmed.
- Specimen source ready — pond water, prepared tissue, or fresh material — and staged clear of the light and heat.
- 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 a microscopist. 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 experiment is trying to find out or measure.
- What is the technique? Name the preparation and viewing method (wet mount, stain, section) the experiment depends on, and why it fits.
- What is my prediction? A specific expectation — the approximate cell size, the structure you expect to resolve, or how the stain should take.
- 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 experiment 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.