How organize laboratory for sciences

1. ORGANIZATION AND
MANAGEMENT OF LABORATORY
EDUCATIONASSIGNMENT

2. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LABORATORY
LABORATORY LEARNING has long been associated with the educational process. The use
of school and community laboratories in which students “learn by doing” is integral part of
science education programs (Sutphin, 1984)
LABORATORY ORGANIZATION
According to Oralu and Inalegwu (2000)
Laboratory organization activities begin by providing the necessary services and
equipment or material.
WHO IS TO ORGANIZE AND MANAGE THE LABORATORY?
The Principle and HOD science is the overall manager of the school laboratory. The HOD is
head of any science subject or coordinating head with the responsibility to delegate to others.
According to Gyuse, the responsibilities of HOD are
 She the coordinator not a boss with the responsibility to delegate to the head of each
department ( biology, chemistry, physics)
 She consults with other HODs to make best use of available material and human
resources.
 She must have skills in personal relationship to establish and operate line of
communication with administration.
LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
It is mostly concerned with the provision of materials for laboratory work maintenance and
repair of equipment and the proper organization of the laboratory and auxiliary services. The
teaching laboratory may consist of the common preparation room and the dispensing store. For
the science laboratory to achieve its goals, it should be organized and managed well. The people
involved in the management and organization of science laboratory could include:
I. The science teacher
II. The science laboratory technician
III. The students
Preparationroom
This refers to a room which provides space where solutions and equipments can be prepared
for use. The preparation room must contain the following:
A sink and a drawing board
A water still or deionizer A balance (preferably two, an accurate one and rough one)
Large bench for dry works.

3. Dispensing store
 This is a room where a teacher can store the materials and equipment in everyday use and
to provide a room where some of the items which may be dangerous could be properly
stored. The materials kept in the dispensing store must be arranged in a way that makes it
easy to find any particular item without relying too much on memory.
 For the purpose of reducing inconvenience which may result from misplacement, it is
recommended that you have a label of the arrangement of all materials in the store. All
hazardous chemicals should be put in a cupboard which should always be locked except
in times of need and a large label should be put on the door, indicating the dangers of
contaminating those chemicals.
SCIENCE TEACHING
Science teaching entails the training of students to develop scientific processes, skills acquire
the subject knowledge contents (product) as well as scientific attributes and ethics. Teachers
needs to provide the learning atmosphere that will help the students to establish a sound
knowledge based and skill set on which they will be able to build as they exposed to different
life experiences. This means teaching must go beyond the TALK AND CHALK method and
it must involves the totality of students, the instruction must be prepared in such a way that at
any time student learning must make use of more than two senses. Touch, feel, hear, see or
taste. Such requires bonds-on-mind activities. Of course they can be no better place for such
to be carried out than the laboratory. Even the poorly equipped laboratories will be better
than ordinary classes, thus we need to look close at the laboratories. Laboratories go side by
side with laboratory equipment , however, in the event where there is no material,
improvisation become very handy.
STORAGE OF APPARATUS
Climate Condition
 Storage of apparatus is highly linked to the climatic condition of the area concerned.
Humid, hot conditions, produces rapid corrosion problems with ferrous. Hot dry
conditions, creates the hazard of dust and send accumulations in the laboratory
equipments. Cold conditions, most preferred. Change of humid levels between the
preparation room and the laboratory could be detrimental to some of some of the
apparatus.
 . To overcome the unfavorable conditions for equipment storage. Use a moving air
current in a cupboard e.g. Use of small fan. For this to be successful, the shelves should
be of slated type to allow air movement.
 Use an electric bulb in the bottom of the cupboard to set up convention current. Drill
holes about 2cm in diameter at each end or the cupboard. Holes can be covered by fine
gauze to prevent dust

4.  Ensure good air circulation in the preparation room
 Windows should be covered with fine mosquito netting to keep out flying insects, lizards
and crawling insects.
STORAGE OF CHEMICALS
Chemical storage is one of the school’s main problems. Mostly this is because of ignorance e.g.
buying too much chemicals. Resist the temptation of buying far more than it is needed. Discard
any stock which shows the least sign of deterioration.
 To ensure proper storage of chemicals which can decompose slowly with the evolution
of gas e.g. hydrogen peroxide or hydrochloride, must be stored in dark bottles with some
kind of vented stopper. Bottles of chemicals liable to hydrolysis, e.g. silicon
tetrachloride, calcium carbide or phosphate etc, should have original stoppers. All
reagent containers should be of such a size that they can hold easily and should be at
bench height.
 Large bottles should never be lifted by the neck, the use of special bottles carriers is
recommended. All chemicals containers should be clearly labeled at all times. Keep
organic and inorganic chemicals separately highly reactive reagents should not be placed
adjacent to each other.
 Chemicals presenting special hazards should not be kept on the open shelf but in special
cupboards. Special attention should be kept in the following;
 Radioactive substances must be kept in a locked and marked cupboard.
 Concentrated acids and alkalis should be stored at floor level.
 Highly flammable/inflammable liquids should be kept in a specially constructed store.
This store should have; a brick-built cupboard against an external wall inside the main
chemicals store and should have the vent to the outside.
STORAGE OF CHEMICALS IN THE PREPARATION/STORE ROOM
 Containers should be located alphabetically and stored by using their proper names,
example ‘NaCl’ and not ‘salt’. Have a small amount of prepared reagent ready for use in
the classroom. Close to the storage area, there should be a wall chart which contains
information on safety procedure and hazards.
 From the prepared stock solution, students will get the appropriate quantities for
investigations. So avoid to have a reagent bottles racks on the work benches. Lockable
cupboards should be used to store poisonous and dangerous materials Liquid chemicals
in larger containers should be stored as low as possible.
 Glass ware should be stored in bays, with each size and type clearly labeled. For safety
purposes, as well as to save space, glass tubing should be stored vertically in a suitably
constructed rack. Biological specimens should be preserved in sealed jars of varying size.
Bottles with dangerous liquids should be carried using a plastic bucket.

5. STORES MANAGEMENT
The primary objectives of a science store are;
 Ensuring the availability of chemicals and equipment when needed.
 Reduce storage costs For safety purposes Maintaining accurate records and provide
management data
 Organizing the science store There are two points to take in mind in organizing a
identification science store Economy
The store must provide the service economically Classification and Classification refers
to the specialization of the compartments, cupboards, shelves, bays etc according to their
contents. E.g. chemicals Identification refers to the process where the type of a stock is
systematically defined and described by a system of coding.
 Organizing the identification the code should be used on all records. Receipts there
should be a system of accepting all materials, equipment and chemicals. Issue you should
have a record for all item that have been handed over to users .Stock records- make sure
that there is a record of all receipts, issues and balances of stocks.
 Stock taking, stock checking, stock audit and stock level. Stock taking: refers to physical
verification of quantities and conditions of goods, on a periodical basis.
PURCHASING LABORATORY MATERIALS
 Purchasing of the laboratory materials should be done by the person who is familiar with
all the laboratory equipments. In purchasing laboratory equipments one is to keep in mind
the following;
 Knowledge of the supplier Self knowledge of each laboratory item
 Seek quotations from various suppliers
 Specification e.g. of time and quantity
 Ensure delivery Administration, e.g. checking the item delivered, certifying invoices for
payments.
 Buy at the lowest price without sacrificing the quantity.
 Buy the most appropriate amounts.
 Ensure proper records of both in and outgoing items from the laboratory.
 Account must be taken for stock in hand.
 To estimate the value of the items in the stock.
 The important thing is to know what to stock, how to stock, when to record and how
much to record. In this case you can divide the stock into working and bulky stock
Bin card
A bin card contains all the information required for an efficient and simple method of stock
control. Contains the following details;
 Name of item
 Issuing unit
 Maximum stock
 Minimum stock
 Details of items received or issued

6.  From whom they are received or to whom issued
 Quantity ordered
 The quantity received
 The quantity issued
 The balance held in stock Price
Planning laboratory works
Laboratory work involves preparation of experiments and demonstrations. Neither of these can
be done in a hurry. A reasonable amount of time is needed. Full detail of what is required must
be given. Day requirements should be entered in the dairy, example; Date and which class,
practical time, list of requirement and their amounts.