Australia's Science Forum

G'day Dime, You will love this! All staff at my school have a name badge (magnetic). Blue for workers like me (integration aides, lowly office workers, assistants and me). Yellow for teachers. White for senior teachers. Gold for the executive class (Principals, vice principals, and all the top notch...

My question is Smiley, If I came to you and asked that you not call me by those names, would you make an effort not to? Until this school, everyone had called me by my name. Rarely Mary or Maria, but the effort was there, and that was enough. No one was castigated for that! One staff member, 15+ yea...

I am up for a whinge this morning also. I do not have any science staff, at the moment, who are the devil incarnate but I do have another problem. Maybe some of you would not have a problem with this, but I do. I am called, 'sweetie', 'honey' and other 'loving' terms. Last year, whilst stuck in the ...

G'day Joy, I would advise that you have the benchs in a charcoal/black colour or pattern. I assume that it is going to be laminate of some sort and this will hide most grafitti or marks. I have come from a school where I designed the labs. We had large sinks, not the 30cm square stainless steel that...

G'day Narelle, It is a long time (10+ years) since I have done this but the Bromothymol Blue (green colour) needs to have drops of Sodium Hydroxide added to get the blue colour. I think this is right. I cannot tell you the strength or otherwise, but that is some of what I remember. Maybe the Bromocr...

I might make the iodine up and put it in a bucket so that the concentrations all end up the same,but I would not keep it there. Imagine the smell!!!! A gerry can is a great idea. I know I have made up 10L of Polyvinyl and kept it in 2 5 Litre plastic containers from Bunnings. Fantastic! I did not ha...

I cannot buy Light Corn Syrup at supermarkets in Melbourne but I can it at a decent Health Food Store.
Good Luck
Maree

When I had Triple Beam Balances I used to store them on shelves and removed the hanging pans. My difference is that I numbered the balance and the hanging pans so that the correct pan went with the same numbered balance. These things can be so precious that this overcame any discrepancies that arose...

I do use the recipe as stated in resource books but one of the things I do is grind the iodine down into a powder before weighing the required amount. After that it goes into the KI solution (maybe 3/4 of the amount) and put on the stirrer for overnight dissolving. In the morning I pour off the solu...

I must admit that this happened to me when once I got a new co ordinator (head of department). She wanted to know everying I did and what time it took. Oh, I forgot, so did my last Principal at my last school. I did not do it at any school..........well, I tried but quickly got bored with noterising...

Where is your Union. Call WorkSafe!
This is ridiculous Search Engine. At least you should put your own safety first. I am a 60 years old woman. Would you expect me to do this? Of course not! Therefore, DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF.
Maree

This sort of thing comes up on a regular basis and it is good that we have a fine number of super experienced Lab. Techs. to give advice. My own: If you only have one teacher giving you grief like this, look at his timetable and go and park yourself on his desk one, even better, two days before he i...

MIXING CHEMICALS EXPERIMENT II NAME:_________________ PARTNER:______________ DATE:_________________ AIM: To mix chemicals safely in class and to observe and record what happens. EQUIPMENT:  12 x Test Tubes  Test Tube Rack  Test Tube Holder  Bench Mat  Chemical A  ...

Yesterday's reply did not go through. Here it is again. Ask the staff member if the students are allowed to wear ipods in class. If so then the music should be alright! If not, why not? Is it only allowed when he/she also can hear it?
Maree

G'day Wayne,
Just a thought. Trial anything that you may use on a part of the screen little used so that you may see the effect. Maree

Again Cosmo, I do not know whether you are in the private or state system. However, I am sure that you did not knowingly take on the job believing that this would be part of your duties. It would not have been written down that this is part of your contract. Why? Because I am sure that it would be i...

If you really do want Gentian Violet then maybe the local pharmacy might have some to sell (they used to). It is also called Crystal Violet.
Maree

Thank you Annette,
I have sent this on to many places. What a magnificent resource!
Maree

As someone who works in the State system in Victoria I know how this goes. DO NOT transport any chemicals, other than foodstuffs, in your car. You need to be strong and if necessary, ask the teacher who requires it to come and get it. Then you will see the reactions. No, each campus needs to have it...

G'day Lada, It is many years since I used the powder but I remember that it does not dissolve under 80 degrees C. I used to boil the required amount of water, say 880mls, pour this into a 2 Litre beaker on a hotplate that was already heated. Then stir in small amounts of the powder. I used to work o...