Australia's Science Forum

Yep happy birthday Smiley. Although its a big one, i hope its a good one.

Gee nickyw.. that is a lot of DNA.. very impressive. Can you let us know your process please?

We use the split peas as they are cheap and can be kept in the cupboard till required. I omitted the tenderiser step(as it was hard to buy) and they worked fine.

It does beg the question of why would a corrosive cabinet be made of metal in the first place. HCl is called fuming acid afterall and for very good reason. Ours is kept on open shelves in an acid bay and other equipment is stored some distance away but in the same room. Even with constant ventilatio...

Mmm...can't say I've ever had to clean those things out of crucibles either, but just clean out any residues by washing, soaking or scraping. Don't worry about stains. Our seem to crack easily and are therefore thrown out regularly. I used to soak test tubes with melted sulfur stuck to them, in 2m s...

So exactly what are they doing. Methyl Salicylate is menthol smell if that helps.

According to CSIS (NSW) test strips can only be used with years 11 and 12. Make strips with 0.1% solution.

We used them once. I had to make 'em.

Last year, we ended up buying Resistor Sets made by IEC. They are not cheap ($80) but they are worth it and easy to use apparently. I do not pretend to understand electricity but these are made so that the school 12v transformer will not overload or damage the resistors. Ideal for Junior to Middle s...

Well they only cost about 40c each when I bought them last (and that was a few years ago I admit). So order double the amount and it won't break the bank.

The only way I get to go on an excursion, and that has been very infrequent, is if they need someone to carry the equipment, or professional learning experience, or the token felmale. As you say, you can't supervise students, so there has to be a purpose for your going.

With DEC there is no majic formula. All schools are allocated SAS staffing hours according to the number of students. It is then up to the Principal and sometimes the SAM to allocate where SAOs work. ie I am fulltime in Science but I do help out with admin tasks when I have time. This will soon chan...

I bought a tube of Selleys Roof and Gutter Silicone Sealant. I then sqeezed out long lines of it onto an overhead sheet. When dry just peeled it of and voila silicone for the experiment. Teacher told me what lengths would be best and made them to measure. She was happy with the result.

If you are working in a NSW govt school the Chemical Safety in Schools Manuals Vol II has a lot of info that covers most stuff you will do.

If the DEC require us to change the labelling they will let us know. We work for them, so if we are non compliant that is their problem

Do you really need a sterilizer in a school? If it is the same as a pressure cooker, then yes you use a regular hotplate. I have just finished saying that after 20 years of using a pressure cooker for agar plates, I now just use boiling water and they work the same.

Is it plain agar? As in agar agar. There are malt dextrose and other sorts of agar that may not go clear when cooked. It would cook properly in the pressure cooker for 15mins. Have you considered using the nutrient agar? Even with the nutrients it goes clear although golden in colour. It is much eas...

Thanks helie for the heads up. I have been wanting to live in Ballina and would love a transfer. If only I can convince my husband!

On a previous post, it said to soak your hands in bleach or iodine. Well, the bleach would lift my skin, so I'd be inclined to try the iodine. After soaking in iodine use methylated spirits to get the iodine stain off. Overall, I think I'd wear gloves dishing up the sausages and let nature take its ...

When I read up on cleaning them, they had to be boiled in acid or some such rubbish and I thought that it was too hard and not worth the effort. So how do you clean them? I am supposing that stuff does get caught in the filter mechanism and would be hard to move.