Safety always comes first in the lab environment, especially when dealing with hazardous chemicals. Therefore, common supplies you'll find and be required to wear in a lab include safety attire to protect your clothing, hands and eyes. Students typically wear lab coats when conducting hazardous experiments, plastic gloves while handling chemicals to guard against skin irritation or chemical burns, and protective goggles over their eyes.
Sometimes, safety attire is not sufficient, so labs are also equipped with safety utilities. For example, many feature an on-site eye wash station, where students can go if a chemical or other harmful material comes into contact with their eyes. Labs also feature basic first aid kits, fire extinguishers and emergency showers. Emergency showers are typically used only in the event of a chemical spill onto a student, when the student must rinse quickly and thoroughly to minimize the effect.
Laboratory measuring supplies are essential to accurately measure out quantities of chemicals. According to SKS Science, these supplies are available in either glass or plastic varieties. However, the site states that glass is the preferred material because it is more durable when working with chemicals and solvents. Common measuring supplies include beakers, vials, jars and bottles. In addition to measuring chemicals, they're also used to store chemicals.
It's common to find observation equipment such as microscopes in the middle school lab. Such devices are normally used to observe things that are too small for the naked eye. A substance is usually placed onto a slide or inside a small petri dish and then positioned under the microscope lens. The instrument can then be adjusted to focus on the substance to provide a better look at its component properties.