A science laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed.
Listed five groups of objectives that may be achieved through the use of the laboratory in science classes:
- skills – manipulative, inquiry, investigative, organizational, communicative
- concepts – for example, hypothesis, theoretical model, taxonomic category
- cognitive abilities – critical thinking, problem solving, application, analysis, synthesis
- understanding the nature of science – scientific enterprise, scientists and how they work, existence of a multiplicity of scientific methods, interrelationships between science and technology and among the various disciplines of science
- attitudes – for example, curiosity, interest, risk taking, objectivity, precision, confidence, perseverance, satisfaction, responsibility, consensus, collaboration, and liking science.