How can you do an experiment?  With a smile on your face!  Here’s how: (Updated 10-13-22)

• Lab Safety:  Before you can do anything experimentally-oriented in a chemistry class, you need to learn how to keep from hurting yourself in the lab.  Spoiler alert:  It involves goggles.
• Lab equipment:  What’s all that stuff in the lab?  Find out here!
• Lab equipment ppt:  I’ve got a terrible secret: Not all of the equipment your teacber tells you about will actually be used in your labs.  Here’s a PowerPoint guide to the equipment that you’re most likely to actually use.  (Note to other educators:  C’mon, you know I’m right).
• Scientific method:  How do scientists make discoveries?  It depends.  How do chemistry classes tell you that scientists make discoveries?  With the scientific method.  Learn how it works here!
• Scientific Method PPT:  This is a bit different and probably easier to understand than the tutorial above.
• Percent yield – error PPT:  What is percent yield?  What is experimental error?  Find out before you get too far with this chemistry stuff.
• Properties of matter PPT:  I honestly had no idea where else to put it, so here’s this PowerPoint.  I hope you find it OK.
• Elements, compounds, and mixtures PowerPoint:  Let’s look at some simple things to get started!
• How to win science fair:  Be the envy of your nerdy friends and win a trip to somewhere obscure by winning the science fair!  Or, if you’d rather just survive the whole experience, this will work for that, too.
• An introduction to chemistry:  The first chapter of the chemistry textbook (and textbook parody) that I never actually published.  Discusses the topics above, but is more in depth and funnier, too.

Supplemental videos:  These videos are all over at the amazing Crash Course YouTube channel.  I didn’t make these, though I wish I did.

• Crash Course Chemistry:  Lab Techniques and Safety – I’m a very big fan of safety, and this video really covers some of the important topics you don’t hear about in many chemistry courses.
• The times and troubles of the scientific method:  The scientific method isn’t perfect. Find out why.
• 3 chemistry experiments that changed the world: Believe it or not, we chemists have done some really cool stuff!