Biology Lab 1

Introduction to laboratory
 Basic Safety
 Smoking, eating and drinking are not permitted.

 No running, No jumping, or horseplay

 Laboratory coats and other protective clothing worn

in the laboratory area are not to be worn outside the
laboratory
 Gloves should be worn all times during the laboratory
sessions especially when you handle any biological
samples such as blood, infectious materials or
chemicals or any other contaminated materials

 Shoes that fully cover the feet must be worn

 Safety glasses must be worn when there is a risk of

splashes of harmful materials (blood…etc.)

 Food or drink is not allowed in refrigerators, freezers

or containers designated for chemical, biohazards, or
radioactive storage
 All biohazards, hazardous, must be properly labeled
and stored. Use flammable and acid storage
cabinets and explosion-proof refrigerators when
required

 Wash hands during and after laboratory work.

 No mouth pipetting, use the pipette pump, bulbs

supplied

 All accidents involving injury, however minor,

must be reported
 Laboratory Notebook

All students are required to have a laboratory

notebook. The notebook will be used to
record the laboratory data, observations,
calculations……
The lab report should be written in this
format

1. Title
2. Objectives
3. Methods
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
Equipments used in
the Laboratory
Microscope
 How to carry a microscope
 Place one hand under the base of the microscope and
the other hand on the arm of the microscope

 Most microscope damage is due to careless transport

 It is important that you carry the microscope

securely,
securely with two hands, and in an upright position

 Remember that you are handling an expensive

instrument
 Laboratory Centrifuge
 A piece of laboratory equipment that is driven by a
motor,
motor which spins liquid samples at high speed

 Two main sizes:

sizes

1. Centrifuges (large): samples are contained in

centrifuge tubes or centrifuge tips

2. Microcentrifuge or microfuge (small): samples are

contained in microcentrifuge or microfuge tubes
 Laboratory Centrifuges

Work by the principle of sedimentation: the

motion of molecules in solutions or particles
in suspensions in response to an external
force such as gravity, centrifugal force (an
outward force associated with rotation) or
electric force
 Operation
 Increasing the effective gravitational force cause the
precipitate (pellet) to gather on the bottom of the
tube

 The remaining solution is called the supernate

(supernatant): a liquid, which is decanted (pouring
a solution from a container) from the tube without
disturbing the precipitate, or withdrawn with a
pipette
 Operation
The rate of centrifugation is specified by the
accelartion applied to the sample, typically
measured in revolutions per minute (RPM) (the
number of full rotations completed in one minute
around a fixed axis) or g (The g-force of an object
is its accelaertion relative to free-fall (motion with
accelartion other than that provided by gravity)
Pipette
Biosafety Cabinet
Fume Hood