Australia's Science Forum

Thanks so much for the risk assessments, Estelle. They are opening for me this time! I will never understand the foibles of my computer here - it has a definite mind of its own and picks and chooses when to work (+apparently we had rats chewing through the cabling here creating all sorts of chaos!) ...

Sorry Estelle, thinking of other things. My email is

robyn.l.dean@det.nsw.edu.au or robdean59@hotmail.com

Thanks again,

Robyn

Hi Estelle,
Would you mind sending them to me again. It was a while ago I asked for them and I'm pretty sure you did send them but I can find no trace of them now. Would they have been in a file that needed
"unzipping"?? Have trouble doing that here.
Anyway, thanks again
Robdean

I received two phone calls on Thursday night - one from my HT and one from my SAM saying that I was not to come to school Friday. I couldn't have anyway as my local bridge was at least 6ft underwater! In this morning's staff notices though, the Principal has said that those who didn't come due to ch...

Thanks for that - didn't even give John a thought even though we buy plenty from him! At one stage we also had a retired man, Keith,I think, but we've lost contact since he's moved. Will pass the info to my HT.

Does anyone up this way (North Coast NSW) have the name of a reliable person who could have a look at some of our microscopes - main problem is difficulty focusing, though a couple of scratched lenses too.
Thanks heaps
Robyn

Just a thought - we purchased a couple of Student Mini Voltameters from Haines for $59 each a year ago and they also work well. They are made of plastic and are especially useful for demos with junior classes or if you have a teacher you don't quite trust with the quite expensive glass Hoffman's var...

Thanks for your replies. It will give me a bit of clout with those who have made comments on me not recycling the glass we use in the labs!

Can someone please clear this up for me. We have just received new recycling bins here and somewhere I have read (or heard) that there is a problem recycling lab glassware. Is this the case or is it just some glassware, pyrex maybe?? - I don't want to empty our broken glassware buckets into the wron...

I've just been notified this morning that our pickup will occur over the next couple of weeks at a cost of $800 or so. I have my chemicals ready to go but don't know about anyone else here - Industrial Arts , general assistant etc! It's been a long time coming so thanks to those who have pushed it a...

We've also been using food colouring, various colours to show water movement with great results!

Hi there, glad to hear you're on the mend. I'm in a similar situation here as far as location of labs: 7 on two different levels and in 3 buildings, 4 preps and multiple stores spread out! In days gone by it was all carrying in tote trays and equipment by me and then I began to have back problems. I...

Yes, wouldn't that be a great idea. Ever since this CSIS was introduced there has been confusion as to what is actually required!

Thanks for that, at least now I know what to ask for by name rather than a description, which sometimes draws blank faces when asking about bits and pieces we need!

Have been poking bits of fine wire, teased out from stripping connecting wires, into those tiny jets for years and generally it has worked but at times the wire has snapped off! Last time I was tackling this job with a line up of blocked bunsens the plumber was attending to the lab taps. I asked him...

In all the years I've been making this stuff I've found that the colour develops better the longer it's kept. I set it in an enamel tray. I don't refrigerate it as in the past have found it will turn a murky purple grey colour instead of the bright crimson colour; still gives the same reaction thoug...

I also have made little blocks or chunks of sulfur by heating the sulfur but beware it needs to be done in a fume cupboard as sulfur dioxide is released. From CSIS Appendix D p 241: "When heated to the melting point, sulfur usually ignites, forming highly toxic sulfur dioxide , thus sulfur shou...

I'm also using demineralised water from Woolworths - just for making solutions such as silver nirate and for senior chem pracs calling for distilled water. Our chem teacher is more than happy with the results. Our last water still was past its use by date and unfixable so for us this is a cost effec...

Totally agree with all the sentiments expressed so far - it just totally defies belief that a tragedy on this scale could happen. I can't begin to imagine the despair of anyone involved. We're taking up a collection within the school community which we will forward on to the Salvation Army. Every bi...

Can someone please tell me what the swg stands for when referring to copper wire?? Also I know it is becoming expensive and I think they "eat" it here - either that and the're hiding my supply in a place I haven't come across yet! No one's owning up to it! Can anyone suggest a reasonably p...