#1 Science Forum For Lab Technicians

Maybe a bit of both. I think we're over-cautious regarding borax, but I deplore the use of herbicides and pesticides by untrained people. The effect on biodiversity is overwhelming bad. I have my ChemCert card, and I think you should be unable to buy such toxins without one. Interestingly, when the...

We have kits here, that are over 10 years old, possibly more, with some components still wrapped in plastic. Here's another tip (gosh why do I feel like I'm on my death bed, sharing random bits of information before I go??): the spirit thermometers aren't accurate enough for the ester prac. My old H...

Given that there are teachers present and we would not be able to do what you are doing without a teacher present, yes, you should have a teacher sign off on it. Or get your HT to sign off on it. Make lots of notes to explain what you are doing ie demo with teacher supervision. It is a tricky one, c...

I've bought them from Science Supply (I think) or maybe Haines. Just be careful, someone bought a receiver adaptor last year when I was on leave and mustn't have checked the $120 price tag. I would have just used one kit for spare parts and saved the money. Just looked on SSA and they have simple ki...

If they're cutting glass tubing, the trick is to do one firm drag across the glass just to score it, then carefully (I wrap tubing in a cloth and wear safety glasses) snap the tubing. If you do more than one pass of the file you will end up with a jagged break.

Also only used a triangular metal file. Buy from Bunnings.

Or is that metal glass files??

You can use soil or the good old kids way of putting them on wet cotton wool. They will germinate just fine this way as it provides a good level of moisture and no risk of soil borne pathogens.

I think I went down that dark path and came across something that said they wouldn't take damaged batteries. I'm a bit up to my eyeballs this afternoon and don't have the time to check. Maybe it was something I thought of at 4am (see my other post under Welcome to Term 3).

I just don't want to be the person who goes "I think that was the dodgy battery I put in the bin". Likewise the battery collection points at retailers. Makes me hope they have this included in their emergency plans.

Burning garbage. Hmmm is that why you are now a labbie?

We have soooooo many of them! Way too many. We don't have stoppers to fit them so they're pretty useless (although I'll probably have to buy something to plug them up for whatever we end up doing with them). I do have some set aside that still "look nice". We have heaps of 250ml ones and ...

Maybe ask around your local schools? I'd hold onto 20 or so - we do use them in a Year 7 prac on air pressure with different temperatures.
No point asking me to be creative - LOL!

Sometimes you just have to do it!

I guess the difference between a lead acid battery and a lithium battery is the catastrophe that results if the lithium battery does catch alight - difficult to extinguish, toxic fumes that are emitted. I do agree that the likelihood of a good quality lithium battery igniting is low. Most of the pro...

Tapping into the brains trust here. Does anyone have any solid idea of what we should be doing with damaged lithium batteries? I have encountered batteries that have swollen up, so wondering what we should have done with them. In my WHS role, I am putting together some information about preventing f...

Ah, yes, of course! I forgot about the rubber ones.

Does anybody store their belts in the Fridge ? I ask because when I did my hand over day , the old Labbie told me the silicone belt for the Van De Graaf was in the Fridge and I should always remove it after use and put it back in the fridge . As you can imagine this is quite the PITA to do :whistli...

I'd get in touch with the company that services your fume hoods and ask them.
If you haven't had them serviced, they should be every 12 months. Some companies will say it should be done every 6 months, which would be relevant in a serious lab but once a year is enough for schools.

Did you look on Southern biological's website? I bought the taste test papers from them a couple of years ago and pretty sure we had all the answers!

I bought the thin chopping board style from Haines. They come in a pack of 10. Easy to put in the dishwasher. Some of the smarter teachers got the kids to put the boards down first, then newspaper on top - made for a much easier clean up.