Most measures to keep your board alive mean a clean and clear work area with no metallic items too close to the board.
Read the specifications for your board and try to understand them as best you can and if in doubt ASK as it is better to be safe than sorry.
Understand the difference between positive and negative is a major MUST.
There are so many things to learn as a new user that the Arduino book is a very useful guide to getting started.
It is even available free as a PDF file for download and takes you through most of the basics.
Start there. Its quite easy and you can always ask about parts you dont understand.