Australia's Science Forum

Every year I have "discussions" with the Junior School teachers about ethanol based hand sanitiser. I tell them it is ok for under Yr 7's to use it as long as it is stored out of reach and monitored by the teacher. They insist that being on the teacher's desk is sufficient monitoring. I pa...

Our preschool has recently purchased some new hand "sanitiser" as they are not allowed to have the ethanol based sanitiser. After looking at the website for Siqura I felt a little suspicious of their claims. "Unlike traditional alcohol based hand sanitisers that only provide short ter...

Thanks for your comments. I can not find any mention of limits on the Safework website so have sent them an email - I'll let you know when and if I hear back from them. I'm sure we are well within limits but it would be nice to have that confirmed.

Hi
I've just completed the chemical audits for all the rest of the school. The TAS department has increased their LPG from what they used to store. Can anyone tell me what the limits are for LPG onsite before a special license is required?
Thanks
Kathryn

Glad to hear all was ok for you. I assume insurance papers are all online now. We've once had to evacuate in a hurry and in the end it was family and pets that mattered. Of course our cat was no where to be found so had to hope for the best for her. (All was good - fire was water bombed about 50m fr...

Keen to hear how the day went for you Bigmack?

Just finished this prac for this year. I know the iron thiocyanate has to be made fresh, but can the 0.002M KSCN and the 0.002M Fe(NO3)3 be kept until next year? ie: what is the shelf life for these solutions?

Thanks
Kathryn

Hi Loopy, Could you please PM me the details of the supplier.
Thanks
Kathryn
kjones@cedars.nsw.edu.au

We have a heap of old syllabus textbooks which my HOD does not want to keep. Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Senior Science. Seems such a shame just to dump them. If anyone is interested could you let me know or if you have any suggestions of charities which may be interested.
Thanks
Kathryn

I think part of the trouble with Chemwatch is they are writing SDS for large quantities as in manufacturing or industry. Using hundreds of kg's is quite different from the amounts that we use in schools.
Kathryn

Any update on when registrations will open?
I'm keen
Kathryn

I purchased one from Storemaster a couple of years ago. Australian made. Very happy with the service and the product.
Kathryn

Hi everyone The old CSIS has propylene glycol as orange and yet Risk Assess has it as Blue. That's a huge difference. It does not have any warnings under GHS so probably is ok at a lower code. But so far with any differences between CSIS and Risk Assess I have gone with the higher grading as I am no...

I'd be interested on something on rocks and learning about the geology of the region. Also ideas on how to make rocks / earth science more interesting as the teachers mostly groan when they are doing that subject. Also, physics experiments - I have done workshops before but it is the topic I struggl...

Thanks Macca.

Does that test tube rack work for things like measuring cylinders, conical flasks, beakers etc? I am finding that the spikes on my dishwasher are so short that most things wobble around hitting each other. I do already have one of the test tube baskets.

Hi all

We have an ordinary household dishwasher. It does not hold most lab glassware securely. Just wondering if anyone has bought an additional basket eg something made for glasses, and if so does it work well?
Kathryn

Even the cheapest autoclaves are way beyond our budget atm. Currently we just toss used agar plates but now that they are starting to use far more, I would prefer to have better practice. Any pressure cooker will be better than nothing.

Hi everyone,
Pressure cookers were discussed a few years back but I am wondering if anyone has bought one recently for sterilizing agar plates? If so, what brand have you bought and is it good?

Thanks in advance

Kathryn

Good morning. My teacher has always asked for litres of iodine solution to pour straight into the beakers containing the starch dialysis tubing. Of course when I make up the iodine as per the recipe it is far too dark so then have to dilute. Should she actually just be adding a few drops of iodine f...