Experiment Design: Tips To Consider Before Doing an Experiment

Experiments involving chemicals and heat can be fun, exciting, and we can learn a lot by "playing around" with different substances.

Here are a few things to think about before setting out on your next experiment adventure:

Safety first - Chemistry experiments can be dangerous.  While learning from your experiment is suggested, being able to come out of the lab with all your fingers, toes and body hair is required.  Don't forget to wear safety glasses and lab aprons.  If you have long hair, make sure it is tied back if you are using a flame or hot plate. When using anything dealing with heat or potentially harmful substances take extra care to think about your surroundings.

Don't contaminate - When taking substances from bottles, try to take only as much as you need.  Never return a substance to the bottle from where you took it.  If you happen to have extra, dispose of the material properly.

Can you ever collect enough data? - Don't forget that you will need to do considerable reflection after your experiment.  Besides the data you already planned to collect, think of different ways you can collect useful data during the experiment.  Don't forget that photos or videos are great ways to communicate your experiment results to others.

If at first you don't succeed... - As we've been learning, repeating an experiment can make your results more accurate and also it can eliminate error.  Consider repeating your experiments to get the best data as possible.