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The lab protocols for each of the 6 labs will be placed here for you
to read over before coming to lab and to reference for the
lab report requirements.
On the first days of lab (14, 15 Jan), half of the students will stay
and perform the lab (Wednesday A and Thursday A) and half will be asked
to leave and return the following week (Wednesday B and Thursday B). You
will then attend lab every other week. Check your schedule and determine
whether the A weeks or the B weeks are better for you.
All laboratory assignments will be submitted to the TA via WebCT.
If Biomaterials 5301 is not listed on your WebCT homepage, please contact
the TA. If you are registered for BIOEN 6900 - give it a day or two and
the course should be listed, you won't need access until your assignment
is due.
Your guide to a safe lab experience
Believe it or not, there is only one person who can make you safe in
the lab. That's you. But to be safe, you have to decide that you want
to be safe: you must be proactive. This means thinking ahead about what
to do to be safe, getting an attitude (of safety, that is), and working
on building good safety habits.
Safety is:
- common sense behavior, thought out before an accident so you know
what to look for (to prevent it) and how to respond (if one does happen)
- a self-aware attitude of observing and thinking safe at all times
- making good habits so safe things come naturally
Safety can be summed up in six words:
Think safe, act safe, be safe!
Common sense
Common sense is easy: just ask yourself what your mom would want you to
do so you don't hurt yourself. Problem is, you have to be able to see
the results and consequences of each action before you do it. That's not
easy; in fact, it's hard work because you have to pay attention and ask
yourself questions all the time, before and while you're in the lab.
It is sort of like playing chess.
Attitude
This isn't really hard, either, but hard to keep up all the time. Just
ask yourself, "Does this guy have this attitude all the time, or
does he ever relax?" a good attitude doesn't relax: that's when an
accident happens! Always ask yourself in the lab: "Is this safe?
What can go wrong? Could this hurt someone else? What should I be looking
for?"
Habits
Bad habits are easy to make; it's the good ones that you have to work
hard at to get and keep. So how do you get good habits? Work hard at it!
Be selfish. Think of yourself and to yourself: "This is a good habit
to make." And then, keep doing it over and over till it becomes a
habit you don't have to think about.
Rules
Rules are our little way of telling you, "WAKE UP AND PAY ATTENTION!"
We try not to make up stupid rules (but rarely succeed). Most of the rules
make sense if you think about them; if not, ask us, and if they still
don't make sense, quit and find another profession (or convince us we're
wrong so we change the rule). Either way, follow the rules or pay the
price (which may hurt your grade or cause injury, but not both: if you
cut off your finger, we figure that's punishment enough).
So the rules are as simple as we can make them:
- Safety (catch that word?) glasses/goggles MUST be worn at all times.
- No open-toe shoes or sandals.
- No long hair flying every which way (into motors, flames, chemicals...).
- No food or drink at the bench: you might grab and drink the wrong
stuff!
- KNOW what your weighing, mixing, pouring into what....
- Watch yourself and the other guy - ask questions of both of you.
- Know where the fire extinguisher is, the fire blanket, the eye wash
and the exits
- Program yourself for the obvious. Stand in the lab the first few times
and repeat after me: "In case of fire, I will go to the fire extinguisher,
grab it, pull the pin, aim the hose at the base of the fire, and blast
the beejeebers out of it!" But maybe you should first ask what
kind of fire and what's the best way to put it out.
Sometimes, just putting a beaker or watch glass over a flask with fire
coming out shuts it down.
- Don't do the dramatic if the simple will work (remember "common
sense"??).
Now read the first lab (and every one after that), then:
- Think of three things that could go wrong with the skills involved.
- Think of three things that could involve safety problems: write these
all down, bring them to class to discuss, and put them in your lab report
in the right place.
What you will need for the Lab:
What to do for the lab:
1) Pre-lab preparation:
- read the material assigned; and,
- write up a concise step-by-step outline of what you will do in your:"
this makes you organize so you can be safe and efficient in the lab,
and so you know what you are doing when you are doing it.
2) In-lab activities, listen and watch any demonstration by the TA; make
notes:
- write down all weights (tare, total, net), volumes, measurements and
in-lab calculations directly in your lab notebook (not on loose paper
that can get lost: you need a permanent record)
- write down all observations you make: what actually happened?
- write down all questions you (or others) asked plus answers
- before you leave (and forget), write down a quick summary of how things
went, what happened, and why
3) Post-lab activites
- collect any data from others or from literature you might need
- do calculations, spectral work-ups, plotting, chemical drawing and
molecular modeling, whatever and organize this information
- write up the lab: use a computer to write it: import data, plots,
structures, tables from files directly into your report
- attach anything else required; hand it in on time
Lab Report format:
There will be 6 lab reports that are generally due two weeks after the
lab exercise, except for lab 5 which will require two meetings to complete
and will be due one week after the last meeting or the last day of class.
All but the first will use the abstract format for the 29thAnnual Meeting
of the Society of Biomaterials as the format for the lab report. It can
be found by visiting the Society of Biomaterials website (www.biomaterials.org).
You must get to the abstract guidelines by navigating throught the 7th
World Biomaterials Congress page and clicking on the "Call for Abstracts"
link (http://www.tourhosts.com.au/biomaterials/abstract.html).
Prepare the last 5 lab reports by using the information described under
Abstract Contents and Abstract Format. This is the easy
part (format), don't screw it up! Lab reports that do not comply with
this format will be returned ungraded. A grade point deduction will be
assessed for late lab reports. The second lab report will be graded with
an emphasis on formatting, and lab reports 3 - 5 will be graded more heavily
on content. There are proceedings of the Annual Meeting for the Society
for Biomaterials (3 CDs, 1 Book) on reserve at the Eccles Library for
use in writing your lab reports.
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