Australia's Science Forum

I need some advice from all the invertebrate experts out there please.... We got 5 lovely Goliath stick insect nymphs last term, & converted an old glass aquarium into their new home, but with winter on the way it's getting damn cold, & the lab gets pretty chilly overnight. Does anyone use a...

Another option is a product called Petrifilm from 3M (you can buy them from Southern Biological & other suppliers) They're a paper sheet with dye impregnated to stain for specific bacteria, & you can pour a thin layer of sterile agar onto the surface, then peel back the cover sheet, touch on...

Our senior haven't swabbed/streaked their own plates for years! :? Not part of the assessment here, so the teachers just get me to provide the already inoculated plates. I doubt the kids would finish the prac if they had to streak their own. They use 4 or 5 plates each, with 3 discs per plate....so ...

Instead of spreading with a loop or cotton bud, I inoculate the sterilised agar with the bacterial broth before I pour the plates. That way the bacteria is actually in the agar, all the way through, & grows a nice thick lawn. Once I've sterilised the agar, I leave the bottles out on the bench to...

Thanks Jazz, that's a fabulous site!! I've sent it to all my biol teachers......one of them is going to use it tomorrow....she laughed & said her IB class are all Potter nuts, so it'll be perfect for them :thumbup: I love chemtalk! There's always something new & wonderful being shared by you...

If you're in an IB school.....what sort of individual research pracs do your IB Biology kids do? They need to do fairly involved pracs, & each needs to be different enough from their classmates to satisfy the moderators, but ours have gotten bigger than Ben Hur! 2 classes are running activity of...

I couldn't figure out how to link from another thread, so I've updated my old post with all the tofu prac details in a new post in the thread about the effect of pH on enzyme activity.

Cheers,

Kiah

Here's the method for the tofu pepsin prac.....& a couple of graphs showing the basic trends we got. We did the tofu version twice, but our head teacher didn't like it, even though I thought the results were good, once we switched to the narrow pH range.....but she winged so it got dropped :bori...

The Australian Science Olympiad has copies of past Physics, Chemistry & Biology exam papers on their website...

https://www.asi.edu.au/site/asoe2012_sampletests.php

Kiah :O)

Squee!!
I love anything in the rodent family!
I'll add a pic of the ratties I used to have, Koko & Jacy......in extreme close-up

Yeees, they do seem to think we magical pixies will flutter in & clean everything up don't they? Here's my whinge.....last week, a teacher had nothing organised for her lesson, so she came in & took the bathroom scales & a big tape measure, the 50m type they use on field trips. After the...

A teacher forwarded me a link to this website, it has lots of amazing interactive resources & games for biology topics that might be useful to biology classes. The year 11 biology kids have been using Mouse Party to learn about the effect of various drugs on the brain for their current topic on ...

We bought a bunch of adjustable test tube holders from Haines Educational last year, & they're great. $3.30 each (GST incl), & they hold any test tube size except little 3ml micro ones (with 10mm diameter). You just slide the metal clip along to tighten the grip for whichever size you're hol...

A few years ago on a home improvement show, better homes etc I think, they used car cutting compound to restore an old steel sink....I keep meaning to try it but haven't yet. Like others, we have sinks stained by acids/alkalis, & my main prep bench is stainless steel but has marked over the year...

This another anatomy site we sometimes use...
http://www.getbodysmart.com/

....& this site has lots of animations on cell biology, dna structure & function, photosynthesis, diffusion & a bunch of other processes...
http://www.johnkyrk.com/

Not sure if you’ve seen this, but it’s a great website with interactive tutorials & animations about the brain, skeleton, heart & digestive system.

http://www.medtropolis.com/VBODY.ASP

Kiah :O)

Our yr11s are going to start the junket prac some time next week, & we've used the same old prac for years.....so does anyone have a version they're happy to share please? This is the one we do.......works OK, but I'd love any clever tips or methods you guys have. :thumbup: Junket Prac method.do...

CONGRATULATIONS ROSALIE!!

I hope little Willow (Rosalie in training) brings you & your family lots of love & joy

Try online discount sites like DealsDirect or CrazySales.
I got a great electric model for under $100 online from CrazySales.
Works a treat

We do a fun prac called 'bird beaks & natural selection'......it gets pretty noisy with the kids in a feeding frenzy but it works well & they get the concept.