I DEMAND a RECALL!!!!!

Have you ever spent 3 hours of your time and realized you have been cheated? Well - that was my afternoon "science safety" meeting!!!

I should have known I was in trouble when I sat down and Ashley and Susan said "Can you believe this is supposed to last 3 hours?". I'm thinking to myself - 3 hours? Surely not. After the first 30 minutes all I could think was "a 3 hour tour". The Gilligan's Island song continued to play in my head over and over. And who was I stuck with as my captain? Oh yea - my faithful, capable, science curriculum coordinator (a 3 hour tour).

Now - let's think science safety for awhile - first you learn what a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher look like - reminder here - we all have these in our classrooms! Then we get to play games with MSDS sheets. Yes - I said games! Can you match the flammabilty rating with the correct chemical? Can you match the corrosive level with the correct chemical label? Wait - we're not done - only and hour has passed. Now we get to read scenarios of teachers to determine what they did "wrong" in the lab. I know - you're not all science teachers out there but give this one a shot.

Mrs. Gonzales was demonstrating the effect of a rusty nail in boiling water. She had used a bunson burner to boil the water. Once she had completed the demonstration she walked around to the tables to check out the observations her students were making. Whoops - one rascaly student decided to stick a piece of paper in the flame of the bunson burner while her back was turned. What was her mistake? Was she at fault?

PALEASEEEEE!!!!! What kind of idiot turns their back on an open flame? Ginger?

Well, that brings us to hour two - now we get to play another game - using flash cards - determine the appropriate storage cabinet for each chemical. Does it go in the corrosive cabinet? The flammable cabinet? Or general storage? Now - after you spend 20 minutes rearranging the pictures - then you check the hazordous chemical folder that EVERY school has in their chemical storage room that LISTS the proper storage for you!!!!!!!!! (a 3 hour tour....)

Now....we are at about 10 minutes until 4:00 and he is out of fun and games and material - we hope that we are done - NOT. What comes next? Door prizes! Could the door prizes be to leave early? No...... they are science standard textbooks that he has cleaned out of his office...great! He has just enough to keep us there until....4:00!

What can I tell you about safety? Know where the shower is - I already do. Know where your saftey books are - I already do. Read the labels - done! Now, can I have my 3 hours back?