Glassware in labs?

[trish armstrong]

Hello all,
I'm new to Chemtalk and have only been a labby for 18months, so still learning alot.
My question is what are your views on having glassware in the labs? I have six working labs(+ 1 ag lab) and every lab has test tubes, beakers,conical flasks, gas jars, evap basins, watchglass and crucibles. I have a class set of each size in each lab.
In other schools I visit some have a little glassware, some have none. My teachers like glassware in there lab, but dont keep track on broken or dirty glassware.
Every day I have to go through these drawers and count, take out dirty glassware for washing and replace drawer liners then refill to specific number for the new day. My worry is that I also find a lot of broken chipped glassware in the drawers,what if a student reaches in and cuts themselves. This practice also takes me one hour every morning,but the other side is that I don't have to prepare glassware for each jobsheet. I have been keeping tabs on the replacement cost for my glassware and it works out to be between $100-$200 a month. Excessive?
This practice was in place before I arrived and for the purpose of time management /cost of replacement, I want other opinions of is it better to have it in the labs or in the preproom for teachers to order?

[Slartibartfast]

We keep no equipment in the labs apart from bunsens, retort stands, tripods and gauze. All other equipment is kept in my 2 prep rooms and storerooms. It's too time consuming for me to keep all labs stocked. All drawers and cupboards are locked in labs.

I only issue glassware if asked for or if I know the teacher is competent to avoid unnessesary breakages. Otherwise they get plastics. My staff don't mind, they know that everything that is issued to them for a prac lesson on a trolley is clean and in perfect order. I do keep a spreadsheet of breakages - helps when ordering new stuff and pinpointing careless staff.

An old school of mine had draws full of broken/unusable equipment and I vowed I wouldn't let that happen if I had a say in it. When a prac is finished with the equipment is checked as it is cleaned and if a problem exists with it it can be taken out of circulation immediately and fixed and/or replaced. We have less than $20 in breakages a month for over 1200 students from closer to what your outlay currently is. It took time to reel it in to an acceptable level but my budget is much happier for the effort.

Students start to appreciate the value of glassware/equipment when an invoice arrives at home addressed to their parents to replace equipment their child has broken. We do this when stupidity not an accident has destroyed equipment and it WORKS, believe me! We haven't had to do it in over 12 months now.

[Labbie]

We also do NOT have glassware in the class rooms. Only retort stand, bunsen's, tripods. This has worked very well for over 10 years now. The glassware is stored in the prep rooms, and the teacher can always pop in to get it. We have had some of the draws sealed up, because the students will put half eaten items in the draws. We have PE come and use our labs sometimes. The GA sealed them up for us. I use to spend a lot of time checking cupboards and draw in the labs. We have locked the cupboards that are not in use. Just can not have eyes everywhere.

[kimmy]

I have glassware in 2 out of 5 labs, 2 of the other labs have a small prep room between them where i keep glassware. 1 lab is all on its own and has very little equipment in it. The two with glassware in them are the best and easiest labs to manage . I have removed the doors from the under cupboards so that i and the students can see directly into them. I have a plastic basin between two work stations and all dirty equipment goes into these bowls. Works great in these two labs with these teachers but would be a nightmare with some teachers . this is what I have in each stations
800 ml beaker x 2
500 ml beaker x 2
250 ml beaker x 2
100 ml beaker x 2
50 ml beaker x2
100ml Meas Cyl x 1
50 ml measure xyl x1
2 x plastic funnel
1 x mortar and pestle
1 x beaker
1 x tripod
1x gause mat
4x safety glasses
small amount small test tubes
small amount large test tubes
1 x 500 ml conical flask
1 x 250 ml flask

I find this works great as basically what goes into the wash basin goes back to the lab and the students know that if they want clean equipment they have to put it out to be washed .

[Xenon]

Hi trish

If they breaking that much glassware, maybe remove the lot or replace with plastic beakers, etc. I do keep glassware in labs (front cupboards), yeah teachers like it and I only have small Equipment/Prep rooms. I check each lab once a fortnight and leave report for teacher showing how much stuff has been replaced.

[smiley]

I have some glassware in each lab, which lives in those flat rectangular plastic baskets from the cheapo shops. Each lab has a set of 8 beakers, flasks, funnels, as well as the bunsens, tripods etc. If an experiment requires more beakers than that, then I issue them.

One trick I did learn from a highly esteemed colleague in our equivalent boys school, is that I issue test-tubes, bundled with a rubber bands, in the number required per group on the day. so, for example, if each group needs 5 test-tubes, one spatula, a box of matches and a stirring rod, then I put out 8 sets, in a chinese takeway container. This way, we don't have students digging through boxes of test tubes, and it also identifies which group broke the test-tubes. I also put little amounts of chemicals, eg carbonates, into those tiny takeway sauce containers, with a lid, so that we don't have kids digging into my stock bottles.

Works for me.

[Voice]

Students can too easily hide broken glassware, etc.. in draws and as such take no responsibility. If it is an accident, fine, but stupidity is not acceptable and the onus should be on the students.
All equipment, other than bunsens, tripods, and other unbreakable items come from my prep. room. They are given a thorough list of chemicals and equipment. All equipment MUST be accounted for at the end of the lesson.
Take the glassware out of the classroom it is costing too much. AND
IT IS TAKING UP TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME!
Maree

[lada]

We also keep glassware in the labs. I have 4 labs and have labels on the doors of cupboards where everything is.
I check them only once a week to replenish broken and dirty glassware. Kids are told from early age to report and ditch ALL broken or chipped glass and it seems to work.
it would be more time consuming to count out every beaker, t/t and measuring cylinder for every practical. We can run up to 30 pracs a day.
Lada

[RosalieM]

We have a glassware cupboard in each room. The kids know if anything breaks it is to go in the broken glass bin. They put the rinsed glassware onto draining racks in the room and I generally put it through the dishwasher and then put the clean stuff back in the cupboards. It has taken me a while to get this system working as before I came (and before I got a dishwasher!) the kids just washed their own glassware and put it back in the cupboard. As you can imagine, there were plenty of items that didn't get washed! And as they all go back in the one cupboard there was no way to tell which kids didn't wash up. Experiments are working more frequently now If I were you, I would stop checking the cupboards and start making the kids do it. Ask the teacher to remind them to check their cupboards at the end of each lesson. If they break something they need to ask you for a replacement. If there is something dirty from a previous lesson then they should wash it up. Eventually they will get into a system. I don't think where the glassware is stored would make a difference, because it gets broken when it is in use.

[sunray18]

We keep nearly ALL the glassware in the Labs .. I just wouldnt have room in the Prep Rooms!
The glassware is stored in glass fronted cupboards, so you can see at a glance its condition. I have a dishwasher in the main prep room and take the really grubby stuff there to wash...
BUT - in a busy week I end up with a trolley of clean gear that I cant remember which Labs it came from!

When i have time [???] I go through the 6 labs and check on how many of each piece of equipment they have ...

I could not manage, with the 'system?' in place here to keep up with distributing glassware for every teacher and our labs are widely separated in different buildings..
Our system? - means a lack of one.. Yes they SHOULD order gear etc, YES they should give me notice - but they don't - I am lucky if I get a one period notice of pracs! AND YES, I have tried to put a better system into place but the worst offender is the HOD.

[Loopy]

Good morning everyone,
We keep basic glassware in the labs themselves with test tubes, evap dishes, watch glasses etc being issued as required. I will try to attach photos to show our set up in the labs.
Each bench has
2 x 500ml Beakers
4 x 250ml Beakers
2 x 100ml Beakers
2 x 100ml measuring cylinders
2 x 10ml measuring cylinders
2 x funnels
2 x test tube racks
2 x retort stands, boss head and clamps, tripods, bunsens, heatmats and gauzes (1 set on each side of the bench)
Lou.

[Jen1]

I only keep retort stands, gauze mats, tripods and funnel stands in the classrooms. I used to keep bunsens in there too until one year the kids kept nicking the tubes and columns to make bongs!

[Slartibartfast]

'Our' lot wouldn't do that Jen! Year 9 (for some reason) do think every bit of glassware other than a beaker is a bong though. Do they think of anything else? Are they capable?

Nice benches Loopy!

[Loopy]

Thanx 42,
The benefit of only being 5 years old!
Lou.

[trish armstrong]

hi everyone,

A big thankyou on your response to my question.
It has given me other ideas on how to change the situation and try to cut back on budjet and time.
thankyou, trish.

[rosaliemb]

Changing the subject slightly.
I was interested in Loopy's photos of lab benches. These have the same sinks we have which I am not happy with because the lip is above the level of the bench, so that you can not wipe water from bench straight into sink. I consider this a design problem. Is it? Also glass ware does not bounce in them like the ancient sinks we used to have.
Rosalie (another one)
PS I keep a "basic set of equipment" at each station in the laboratory, with pictures of what is in which cupboard, much like those already noted. But students often do not seem to be able to read pictures! This was a helpful discussion. Thanks everyone.

[AnnNos]

I was just listening to Alan Smith on the DEC Webinar about the new CSIS package. He stated 'If you don't have perspex glassware to replace soda glass you are running a risk'

Does anyone have perspex test tubes that they use consistently?

[Lyn]

I think he meant Pyrex. I have pyrex test tubes which are really old and still in use. Also Crown borosilicate test tubes which have survived over the years. We had soda glass test tubes once but they did not survive the heating over bunsens (their bottoms kept popping off) so they were set aside for rusting pracs that used nails etc and were disposed of after the pracs. The test tubes we get now are borosilicate.

[linotas]

Very hard to get Pyrex teat tubes (we have some old ones) We use the borosilicate ones (we always buy the premium quality of all glassware) and have never had a problem with heating. Any glass will break when dropped, even pyrex.

[lizzieb]

AnnNos, please tell us more about 'listening to Alan Smith'. I just did a search on the Portal, but no luck - could you explain the steps to download that information?