#1 Science Forum For Lab Technicians

bigmack wrote: 01 Sep 2026, 22:15

RosalieL wrote: 31 Aug 2026, 10:28I am looking forward to starting the mealworm farming side to have a steady supply for our school chickens and ducks.

Rosalie , how could you , with a Topic title of “Meal worms as Pets “….. so cruel

yeah - sorry about that!

I ended up getting some mealworms a few weeks ago and we used them in a "choice chamber" type experiment with year 5 in science week. Today I came in to find my first pupating mealworm!! I am looking forward to starting the mealworm farming side to have a steady supply for our school chickens and ...

Aww those are the reasons you push through all the frustrations and keep coming back. Knowing that something you do might help even one kid understand something more or ignite a spark that makes them want to choose science as a career.

But also what a glowing review for ChemTalk. You have a lab ...

This is still hard to find and very expensive! $90 for 25ml and nearly $60 for freight from Haines, Westlab only has 500ml bottles with a 70 day lead time. What are other schools using? It's for testing functional groups with yr 12 chem.

Year 12 were doing trial HSC exams, year 11 were away on a camp and the other classes were also doing exam prep and teachers were covering extra classes (due to some teachers being out for exam supervision and camp). Science week is actually a terrible clash for high school in our school calendar ...

Are there any WA labbies still working who know what concentration of potassium thiocyanate is needed for this one?

We have a subscription with Pearson as well. How do you access the lab tech notes? I have never tried but it sounds like it would be helpful! I need these solutions for tomorrow morning but I think I will make them up fresh before school.

Thanks all - I ended up mixing it in the drink bottles and then pouring into specimen containers and then each student (year 1) had their own little "blue bottle". I did a bulk batch of the usual methylene blue, then split it into 4, leaving one as the original, adding another indicator to each of ...

In stark contrast to last year, science week this year was a massive event (for me)! I got some funding via ASTA to put towards building a pollinator garden in our ag plot and some lunchtime activities and everything was approved by the head of primary, but then bird flu came along and access ...

Can someone with more brain space than me tell me if these blue bottle demos can be done in a plastic soft drink bottle (labels removed and it's just for today - not long term storage) or will they disintegrate. I am science week-ed out!!

I had a thought that there might be discounted science-related 2026 calendars you could buy and laminate but a quick google search didn't come up with anything. You could check with a local newsagent or bookshop to see if they have old stock you could buy cheap?

I saw a facebook video and it got me wondering - has anyone tried other indicators? The video had 4 bottles of the normal blue bottle solution, but then added extra indicators to three of the bottles. Phenolphthalein, methyl orange and methyl red. When each bottle was shaken, it went a different ...

Rosalie , sounds like a cool project . But I’m wondering how translucent will agar be ( think Phenolthphalene agar)

Wonder if gelatine or something might be clearer .
Would you put the seed in the agar/jelly just as it sets ? Would it be too hot still and denature the seed ?
I’m guessing it ...

I just use food colouring and watered down glycerine stored in specimen jars for the practice gels and they've lasted ages (a couple of years so far).

Has anyone tried to grow seeds in agar to show both roots and shoots? What do I need to know? The site linked above is blocked and as it's from 16 years ago, it may no longer be there (or be current) anyway!

reopening an old post - does anyone have a meal worm farm? I've checked out a few set-ups online but would love first hand stories of what works in a school environment.

I've done a quick search because I am sure I've seen it here before but I came up with nothing useful... What digital multimeters do you recommend? Ours are all "not working", probably due to a combination of bad storage and user error. I have kept in the back of my brain a post from here regarding ...

What are the current thoughts on this? Do people still do it?

I'm not sure if it's because our school is smaller, therefore less pracs/day, but the calendar function works ok for me. I am the only labbie, and I'm part time. I can see what is coming up with a quick scroll through the 4 week schedule. At the moment the teachers create new risk assessments each ...

Has anyone seen the dual platform electronic balances before? I just came across them while looking for economical replacements for our electronic balances... if you put Kitchen Pro Precision Stainless Steel Dual Platform Scale 10kg into google it will come up with what I'm talking about. Just ...