How do you teach students about lab equipment? Some teachers merely hand out an equipment list with pictures and labels and ask students to memorize it. There’s nothing wrong with that. It gets the job done (especially if all a teacher wants us to be able to identify and name equipment). But, is there a better way of learning about lab equipment? It’s a question that comes to mind every year. And, yes, I think there is a better way. And, there’s a way in which we can turn a lesson about lab equipment into a CER activity as well.

In the spirit of CER, this activity requires students to record evidence (ie. Observations) and come up with claims. If you’re new to CER, it stands for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning, and it’s a simple template students can use to draw conclusions and connect it to current and previous knowledge. For more information, see post #46 and #12. For this post, handouts are available for download at the end.

A Lab Equipment CER Activity

The premise of this CER activity is for students to record observations about certain pieces of lab equipment that the teacher has set aside. And, from those observations, students make claims about the piece of equipment and connect it to some reasoning as well.

With regards to actually writing CER statements about individual pieces of equipment, students can following the guidelines below.

Claim: The <equipment> is used for…

Evidence: observe the piece of equipment and note down the shape, size, and details that are either present or missing.

Reasoning: provide an explanation as to why the shape, size, and details (missing or present) are important to the equipment’s function.

For example, assume we ask students to write a CER statement about a test tube.

Claim: a test tube is used to hold, mix or heat small amounts of chemical

Evidence: the opening to test tube are narrow; test tube are short; there are no volume markings on test tubes; test tubes are made of Pyrex.

Reasoning: narrow openings and short length means that test tubes can hold very little chemical; lack of volume markings indicates test tubes are not for measuring volumes nor is volume an important measurement in test tubes; pyrex is heat resistant.

Field Notes

I. Make it into a station activity (easy, medium, hard, expert)

I used for stations with different types of equipment in each one. Some stations can have a theme (ex. All flasks or all tongs). My handouts will show what I put in each station.

II. It’s ok if students don’t “get it right”

What makes the activity so engaging is that students are using their observation and analytical skills to figure out a puzzle. It doesn’t matter if they get the right answer or not (at least, not yet). What’s important is the discussion that occurs at each station. What’s important is that students can defend their positions citing the features they see in the equipment.

III. Compare different pieces of equipment to each other

During the activity, students will get stuck. To help them get unstuck, have students compare 2 pieces of equipment to see what both pieces do and don’t do, have or don’t have. For example, an erlenmeyer flask and a beaker are both for mixing and heating chemicals. However, erlenmeyer flasks do a better job at mixing (tapered neck) while a beaker is better for transferring liquids too.

Wrap Up

Learning about lab equipment is no doubt and important skill. We want to make sure students reach for or use the right equipment for the task at hand. But, learning about lab equipment doesn’t need to be boring. It can be part of a discovery process that wraps other skills like CER into the lesson. Click the link below to download the handouts to our lab equipment CER activity, where I provide what equipment I put into each station. I also outline what I have my students document in their notebooks during the activity. As always, please share our resources with your colleagues. And, if you want to receive weekly updates from us, please sign up for our newsletter too.

Until next time, keep it REAL.

Resources

Handout(s): 49 – Lab Equipment CER Activity

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