Australia's Science Forum

So the time has come for me to pressure cook the life out of the agar plates... I haven't done it since being at this school and it's been more than 10 years since I left my previous school... I had an old pressure cooker I used on the hotplate there and would just have it cooking away for a very lo...

Thank you! I had checked the Science ASSIST page but missed that bit. I must have looked at a different document (or tuned out as I was scrolling :coffee: :boring: oops!). I have one teacher who I am sure will want to do toilet doors/taps and who knows, maybe even the toilet itself so I want to have...

OK so I know this has been discussed before but do you think I can find it??? (Is it really only Monday?) What are the current rules around kids swabbing surfaces to grow whatever microbes they manage to find? I know not to swab humans (or cough/sneeze onto plates), to use the parafilm to seal plate...

We go by RiskAssess as well. CSIS hasn't been updated for decades, the Dept must be waiting for a legal case before they start?? It's bound to happen, one day, sadly. Had to laugh at this, but it isn't really a laughing matter! I went to a general WHS course run by AIS and, can you believe, they sa...

Thanks Anna Z - This is the list from RiskAssess: "May cause cancer Suspected of causing genetic defects May damage the unborn child May be harmful if inhaled May be harmful if swallowed Causes damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure Causes mild skin irritation May cause allergy...

Do you still use nickel sulfate? I'm just printing out some new labels and according to risk assess the 0.1M is red! Is this correct? My very outdated original version of CSIS says 7-12. I am happy to go with the red dot but was just surprised and now I don't know if it is worth even having it in th...

Ditto what Prima said! Mine just arrived today. I can't imagine how monotonous that must have been to put all the sets together but such a wonderful resource and I love that it is attached to the school only.

Anna Z wrote: ↑02 Nov 2023, 07:16 Hi all, just thought thought I'd stick this on here https://elementsets.net/. they are so cool and free.

Thanks Anna for sharing the info, too!

Thank you, Stuart. The booklets look amazing! I love the teaching ideas as well. I can't wait to receive them. They will be so well loved by our students and teachers!

Hi have half an A4 copy paper box full of these with no lids. IMG_0216.jpeg Any suggestions for use? They haven’t been used in the nearly three years I’ve been here. If they’ve got a good use I’m happy to look at getting lids for them rather than disposing of them. My only thought so far is the rust...

I couldn’t get chicken liver or lamb liver so I got a lamb kidney instead! Can you see any reason this wouldn’t work the same as the liver? It’s going in a blender and then filtered through a chux so the nephrons shouldn’t really create a problem, or would they? I am seriously doubting my brain at t...

These look great!! Thank you for sharing! I hope I got my request in soon enough…

I run with the idea that the senior students don't remember what they did in junior years. Once had a Bio class insist they had never used microscopes before! We just stick with strawberries. I buy frozen ones so they are on hand. We often do this prac out of strawberry season and the frozen ones a...

When it's DNA extraction time, we have junior classes use strawberries. What do you use for senior bio? It seems a bit boring to do the same thing. The teacher has requested chicken liver and the method requires boiling the blended mixture for 5 minutes :yuck: ). I have suggested blended banana (so ...

I haven't actually looked at a mini SDS and am aware they don't meet requirements. They would only be in addition and it is for the Woodwork room where they only have a few things and have the SDS available in a folder as well as online but the teacher wanted something that was a bit easier to find ...

It is for year 8 and I don't think they'll value it. I need the teachers to line up their topics with senior bio!

Hi Macca, Go to the ChemSupply website. You don't have to login. You can access Safety Data Sheets for most of the chemicals that you would have in stock. I don't know if ths still applies I have used in the past. Yeah I've used this for the full SDS but I was hoping to find some mini SDS for a cou...

Is Chemwatch the only place to find mini sds?

We are lucky enough to have a butcher that will get them from a abattoir 3 hours away, he vaccuum packs into class set for me. Our abattoir closed years ago. Eyes are becoming more and more expensive. I just tried to get him to order Hearts, Kidneys & brains and apparently the abattoirs are onl...

Is anyone else having trouble getting eyes this year? I've tried a few butchers and they've said they can't get them anymore and suggested straight from an abattoir. Unfortunately our closest is about an hour away and they charge $4.40/eyeball! So factoring in 2.5 hours of my time (roughly) and $44 ...