Australia's Science Forum

That's really strange. We use a tried and true recipe I inherited from the previous labbie here and it never fails. It is almost identical to the recipe on the ASSIST website for agar plates (minus the agar of course!!!)
We have a set up that has been going strong since 2012.

emma.hunt wrote: ↑05 May 2021, 14:09 i grate it against a wire gauze. works pretty well

Great idea, I'll be trying this next time I have to crush chalk!

Good to know the extraction buffer solution will last! What information do you have on the label for the bottle you store it in? We use chux cloths for the filtering as well :thumbup: I made up a label on Risk Assess, "DNA Extraction Buffer", stating the ratio of water:dishwashing liquid:...

We use chux cloths to filter through, cheap and always around.
The buffer solution (salt, dishwashing liquid, water) lasts for years here - or until it runs out and I mix up another batch! This one works perfectly with both strawberries and kiwi fruit.

Happy Easter everyone! Have a great break!!!

I have access to our school logins for all of our Science suppliers - although I did set most of them up myself!

Have you tried setting up an account linked to your work email address so you can research prices etc? That is why I set up all of ours.

Good luck! M

We use scalpels with all year groups (7-12) depending on the class behaviour of course.
As a substitute we also use the single sided blades you can buy at Bunnings. This gives them a side to hold on to and the blade is still sharp but less fragile than a scalpel blade.

We made our own radiation cans - I bought some white and black spray paint, and sprayed a set of Coke cans. I'm thinking I really should have silver in the mix as well, but I have had this set going for over 5 years now.

Or on the right hand side of the screen just above the top post there is a link you can click "First unread post"

I was also called up last year, and even managed to find an ex-student to replace me if necessary. Luckily when I went in and asked for a shorter trial if possible and explained why (hard to replace, no one else can do the job etc...) they let me off and I even got paid $8.70 for travel! It doesn't ...

I just checked in with Risk Assess, and it is also classed as a 5.1 there.

CONASTA will be in September in Canberra this year (COVID permitting of course). I'm planning on going, luckily I even have free accommodation there!

Not silly at all, it's a very common problem!

Someone told me that if you add salt to the water, the food colouring will not separate out. I haven't had a chance to try it yet myself, if you do please let me know if it works or not...

I previously used my own money and was always reimbursed as long as I produced a valid receipt as proof of purchase and had my claim signed off by my HOD. These days however, I have a PCard (DoE credit card) and it makes life soooooo much easier. Surely if the government schools have them, the priva...

3M HCl is my goto glassware cleaner. Works every time, and best of all you can use it over and over again! (Just make sure you don't accidentally send it out to the labs for a prac!

A few of our teachers have had issues with Risk Assess when using IE. No problems once they switched to Chrome.

We have signed up!
Please, if your school hasn't yet decided persuade them to sign up too. This is such a great resource and it would be a great shame to let it go...

Pressing "Home" logs me out too, but if I press "Board Index", keep pressing "Return to ...." at the bottom of the page, or just use the back button I'm fine. Weird. My computer is running on Windows 10 and has been recently rebuilt by our TSO and it still does it.

Have you tried local safety suppliers? Around here we have a couple of choices, and our local Safetyquip gives us a school discount.

It's worth checking out.

Wow Bigmack, I hope your school appreciates you!!!
That is a fantastic set up, especially for the cost!