Australia's Science Forum

Try Wiltronics. They have quite a selection

"I also discovered that the type of wire you use can make a difference as to how well the plugs remain attached to the wire." Merilyn - what wire do you use? I have so many different types of wire in my stock :-( I have loads of bell wire - single strand wire, which is terrible when used f...

One of my teachers will be doing it as a demo - piece of sticky tape to pick up the mould from a piece of bread in a Ziploc bag. She'll put the tape on a slide so they can look at it under the microscope.

I have not had any luck finding GHS posters. A3 printouts, although useful, are still pretty difficult to read. I can't find anything anywhere - Safework NSW, Safework Australia, ASET, Comcare, WorkCover - as well as all the usual suppliers... Can anyone send me in the right direction?

According to Risk Assess, the Cobalt chloride, at 1M, is ok for Seniors, it's an orange dot.
CSIS says it's okay for 7-12, so a green dot.
Am I reading that wrong?

I am about to prepare the Blue Bottle as a demo

At half the cost of the old black ones, also from Serrata!

I bought some black teats from Livingstone last year. Product code PDRT10, but they are not very cheap, at over 50c each! Guess it is still better for the environment, less overall wastage.

Are they the old red ones, Lyn? I still have some of those and they are a LOT better than the new blue type.

I agree - they have been a disaster. Waste of money and time. Stay with the old, tried and tested! The bases come off easily and then seem to stretch or shrink, can't get them back on!

To take up Kathryn's comment about Nickel II chloride - RiskAssess has classified it as Teacher Only until a dilution of 0.19M, along with a very long list of warnings. Yr 11 and 12 can use it at 0.008 - 0.077M. Yr 7-12 - it's safe to use when less than 0.008M. According to Safe Work Australia: Nick...

I am very envious - looks so organised and efficient!
We have hundreds of drawers that look the same....

That's a worry, Kathryn, another reason why the new CSIS is way overdue for release...

We have just subscribed to RiskAssess and I am planning to do the same thing. Looks like it will take a lot longer than I thought!

I have also collected boxes and think I need to throw some away too! Would love to pass them on to someone who needs them but it's just too much effort. A drop of iodine turns black - shows the starch content. Great idea I picked up from a website was to help you when hammering a nail into a piece o...

And the free chemical waste collection????

I bought some of those by mistake and most staff didn't like them, they are too small! (the same size as a mouse - as in the device to move the cursor!) They're better for a small whiteboard, not a big classroom whiteboard. Good luck!

OfficeMax Magnetic Whiteboard & Chalkboard Eraser, Code: 2285215
OfficeMax Whiteboard Eraser Pad Refill, Pack of 6, Code: 1482440

Hope they're better than what you are currently using, which might be the Quartet brand you can also get from OfficeMax?

We get the OfficeMax brand magnetic ones as well as the boxes of refills for them. The teachers don't replace the pad often enough and sometimes just ask for a new eraser! But the erasers do generally last a year or two. On the subject, we have found the best whiteboard markers are Artline 577 - the...

Good question, linotas.

Labbie, excuse my ignorance, but how would French Polishing be related to science?

I managed to make some of my own by heating sulfur in the fume cupboard. When it liquefied, I poured it into small moulds (like an ice tray). It's very fragile but has lasted a couple of years, the pieces just get smaller as it breaks!