Organic-ese Lab Help

You'll find various aids for your navigation through Organic laboratory. Lab help contains information from our experience coordinating and teaching labs in and in evaluating student performance.

Sometimes what's expected isn't explained and that can be frustrating. At other times, all it seems like is a cookbook of procedures to follow mechanically with little background. Writing the formal report after three+ hours of just going through the motions can make for a difficult report. On either extreme, this Lab Help page contains many items you'll find useful from writing a report and what's expected to understanding the significance of the procedures you're doing and equipment your using.

Lab help is not about reiterating your lab manual. Think of it as the missing lab manual. It contains what's expected of you that you aren't often told.

Some preliminaries:

Your "Pre-Lab", the assignment that is your ticket to be allowed to work in lab that day is critical. This is not meant to supplant that assignment but answer your lingering questions. Do not ever fail to read and do the pre-lab as carefully as pssoble. This makes that difference between finishing on time (or early) or running out of time and having botched results.