#1 Science Forum For Lab Technicians

We bought some saucepans with glass lids (about $20 each at KMart) so that the kids can see what is happening and then eat the results. Unfortunately we can't borrow saucepans from the kitchens as all of theirs have metal lids.
We use the KMart portable hotplates to cook them on. Not induction so ...

We have tested
iron in cereal
lash lengthening mascara
no of oranges in Nudie orange juice
quick dry nail polish
chocolate chips in choc chip cookies.

For a cheaper way, little plastic bags from Liverstone, sorry to put the company name up, but over the years, it is the only one that does these bags. They work so very well, on the Iodine & Starch experiment.


Hi Labbie, could you please tell me the name or product code of these bags? Thanks ...

We use paper patty pans, and I also have some silicon patty pans, they both work well and are super cheap!

Made phenolphthalein agar this morning. I followed the same-old recipe but it's now below 30 degrees Celcius and still totally liquid. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGH! I've never had this happen before. Does anyone know what could have gone awry?

Oh. I didn't use a thermometer to check it hit 100 degrees - I ...

Hey Rosalie,

We use a similar one,

Anti A HCl
Anti B H2SO4

A AgNO3
B Ba(NO3)2
AB 50:50 mix of A & B
O H2O

I mix in a bit of red food colour and a drop of blue to make it look more like blood.

If you have an abattoir anywhere in reach it is definitely worthwhile contacting them - we get our eyes for free from our local beef abattoir! All it takes is an email request a few days before we need them.

We get our hearts, kidneys, plucks and eyes free from the local abattoirs, but we still only do a pluck as a demo most of the time (thank goodnesss!) They also give us entire digestive tracts and the last one I got even had the reproductive organs attached, my teacher was thrilled beyond measure at ...

I have been buying our stopwatches from Hart Sports - a LOT cheaper, and they are long lasting. They do have models with button batteries, but also some with CR2032 which are easy to change out.

We do this, but we ALWAYS use a heating mantle rather than a bunsen burner.

So sad, they were a great source of specimens.

I keep it very simple - just the date; date it appears on our budget & the reference number; supplier and details (chemicals, equipment, etc.); amount; and amount left to spend for the year.

oh, ok. Ours are a white plastic and lots of the rounded base bits are melted (from before I started here). Maybe I should look into replacing with better quality plastic ones!


We have the white plastic ones too and luckily only a few suffered from hot test tubes. We kept our very old timber ...

Have you looked up the Science ASSIST site? Below is a snippet from their AIS Microbiology Guidelines:

"7.2 Environmental sampling
When sampling from the environment, the microorganisms collected are not identified. It is
therefore important to sample from environments that are not likely to ...

We just bought some from MTA, they seem to be working well so far. Plastic, with the counter, and adjustable handle.

I used to have to walk across to the other side of the school to use a colour printer, and there was a black & white one here in my block. Now however, after years of begging, we have a colour printer here in the block!!! So exciting!!!

Handy hint when sending anything - but especially labels - to ...

We don't use a lot of it, so we buy the 500mL bottles of 30% and dilute as necessary for the weaker solutions.
The amount of waste we save doing it this way more than makes up for the higher $$$/litre.

I have an electric pressure cooker here. At my old school I had an old one that I used to just put on the magnetic stirrer/hotplate for a while and hope for the best... Any recommendations for settings, times etc for an electric one?


If you look up Science Assist they have an AIS on sterilising ...

So it has been hectic around here lately, sorry I didn't get to this earlier. Attached (if it works) are a few photos of our gas harvesting setup. We use it for oxygen and hydrogen and it makes the task so much easier!
Note: the tub should be full of water, and I use a gas jar to catch the gas.
M

Ours all go straight into the skip. Our skips are emptied at random, so there is no need to freeze them and wait until bin day.