Australia's Science Forum

Fibreweb WOW! I thought our old labs were bad that I had to walk up two small flights of stairs and had two separate prep rooms, but that is ridiculous! How the hell do you get your work done? I have a huge backlog of admin to do over the holidays as well as the annual cleaning of all equipment. Gra...

How many labs do you guys have with 1000 students? We have 1 FTE labbie for 4 labs, 450 7-12 students. We also have about the same number K-6 but they only very occasionally use the labs. There are schools around here with over 1 FTE labbie, but they are the bigger schools but still not 1000 student...

Matchstick, I do not have to order now. What I do have to do is come up with a rough list to present to the Business Manager to argue upping our budget. They have no idea how expensive it is to set up a lab! when I started I had to go and buy my own pen!! thats how "from scratch" it was :l...

I know this is a BIG question, but can anyone from a yr7-10 perspective, tell me what they think is the absolute minimum basic physics equipment needed? We basically have no physics equipment at all and I need to get orders in for next year (well wish list) taking into account a tight budget and the...

I've finally got my manifests up to date on chemwatch (Yah for me) However, given my storage constraints, I cannot find an appropriate space for Iodine that does not come up as incompatible. So any ideas? I have corrosive, flammable and oxidising cabinets a "toxic" cupboard a "general...

Thanks for that. How do I do the chicken wing scraping? Do you scrap the skin with a swab? blade? My HOD's husband is a butcher, so getting chicken is easy and free!

I'm hoping someone is around reading....... Since cheek cells are a no no, HOS wants to look at skin cells (each student doing their own). Anyone have any idea on how to go about it? I'm thinking sticky tape on the arm and then??? I will have a play at looking at them direct and also trying to wash ...

How the hell can you do prep, clean up, and possible help out in class with 10min/hr? Not to mention admin. Are you employed school holiday? We use the holiday period to catch up on admin, stock matainence and clean ups.

Here is Tas we are just getting a document together to take to our new EBA (catholic schools) I can't remember what formula they were thinking of using but it had a few extra factors like labs on different levels and different sites. But using a straight my time vs lab hours I come out at 0.61 at on...

Thanks everyone.

We just have so many duplicates (and triplicates, and quadruplicates!!!) of things. I just do not see why we need so much! I have been very ruthless this afternoon, hope my job share ( Hi if you're reading ) doesn't take a fit

How long do you keep your working solutions for? Do you just wait till something is depleted or do you do a regular stocktake and get rid of anything over X years old? I have been transfering working solutions to our new lab and, apart from dumping the dregs of stuff and bottles with things visably ...

Walk into any pathology lab and crystal violet and iodine stains get wased down the sink all the time (part of the Gram Stain) Seems very odd.

Ok, silly question, how do I export my chemwatch manifest to excel?
Sounds like the easiest way to go.

I have two bunsens that are basically new. When the class use them the sleeve got really hot, as in burning your fingers when turning it hot. All the others of the same type are fine, its just these two. Any ideas?

8O 8O I just cleaned up a prac using it last week. A teacher had left the whole lot in a tub and I had no idea what it was (they other labbie had prepped it) I checked the MSDS we had printed out and it seemed fine so I washed it up down the drain (we do have scrubbers on all sink waste). I think I ...

Surely any kitchenware supplier would have them. Or do you have to use specific suppliers?

Thanks, I have solids on top, liquids below as well

I've finally got my manifest together on chemffx. However, in my (one) flammable cabinet I have some incompatibilities. I have segregated via shelves but what is the difference between fire separation and segregation? Its telling me to segregate zinc from some other metals but also to fire separate ...

I just checked my snail mail and received a brochure. I want to come!!! Do you think I could persuade my school to send me interstate after they just paid for a PD at the other end of this one? Looks like a heap of fun!

I thought my new labs were great, but those are lovely. I especially love the table clusters and the display area but dont get me started on your store...... I suppose I will have to content myself with my views over the city to the habour...... sigh