Test Tubes

[Kathryn]

Hi everyone

How do you all store your test tubes in the classrooms so they don't break? We have ours in a drawer but they roll around (even with a no-slip mat) as the drawer is opened and bang into each other.

kathryn

[ri]

Dear Kathryn,
we supply test tubes as they are needed for that very reason as well as keeping them clean.
So when they are asked for in a prac request, we supply them in plastic coated baskets inside a 4 litre ice-cream container. The idea is that the dirty ones are returned in the ice-cream container and the unused clean ones are returned in the basket.
Hope this helps,
~Robyn

[Miranda]

We keep ours in the cupboard of each lab, in a white rectangular icecream container. We got the containers from icecream shops, but I haven't seen them used in a while. The only thing with them is that they get brittle and break - this happened to me the other day, and I dropped the whole container! Not too many test tubes broke, but those that did broke in to a million pieces of course

[Ocker]

Ours are keept in drawer but every time i visit a St. Vinnies etc I keep my eye out for plastic drawer inserts designed to hold knives, forks & spoons this stops problem.

[dolphinscales]

Hey there
WE keep very little equipment in the classrooms so when a prac requires Test Tubes i put them out with the rest of the stuff.
I put them out in take away containers and put out an ice cream container for the used ones to go into.
Depending on the requirements i may even go as far as putting out the sets in take away containers so each group jsut picks up a container and takes that back to their bench with them.
I always check the state of the take away containers before putting them out into class and before putting them away.
In my store the TT's are stored in reflex paper boxes cut down to half so they dont get to heavy with the weight of the TT.

Good luck.

[sues]

Hi everyone!
I keep test tubes in their racks. one set of large and small under each student bench, and spare test tubes on racks in open low shelves around the lab. As students use the ones under their benches I clean them and replace with the ones from the shelves and so they are rotated and always on racks ready to use.

[Robbie]

We store our test tubes in the lids of cardboard paper boxes (A4 size) in drawers in the labs. These lids can easily be cut down and made smaller if you find the test tubes are rolling around too much and getting broken.
Periodically I do the rounds and collect them all and replace with spare sets while the ones from the labs are being washed. Seems to work for us.

I am fascinated by the range of lab practices. It's great to be able to learn from each other in this way. Good to see that so many are re-using boxes, trays, etc that otherwise would be tossed out.

Robbie

[ndicker]

I have ours in small baskets which I get for the students each prac as needed. I also put out another basket (of a different colour) on the trolley for them to place their dirty ones in.
I will admit that I inherited the set up from my predecessor... so if it ain't broke......
I have changed several things just to be of more benefit to the way I work... but mostly I have left things the way they were!
Cheers

[Kath]

Hello Kathryn,
I also store test tubes in a rack. One large set and one small set in each student bench. After each prac the students are required to wash dirty test tubes and place then back in their bench ready for the next class.
Cheers
Kath

[Slartibartfast]

We tend to keep our test tubes in the prep rooms in the boxes (100 per box) they were delivered to us in. That way they sit it rows of ten in (washable) moulded plastic trays, stack easily on trollies ready for pracs and handling breakages and chips are almost unheard of as they are never in contact with other test tubes. Works for us!

[Helen]

We store our test tubes in a plastic tub in the cupboard in the prep room so we just open the door and reach in to get out the amount we need for each prac. (These are put in ice cream containers & sent to the labs then returned in the same) If we need to move the tub closer we just slide it across the shelf gently so there is never any problem with the tubes being banged against each other. Simple but effective!

[Miranda]

I am fascinated by the range of lab practices. It's great to be able to learn from each other in this way.

Robbie

I feel the same way! It's really interesting to hear how other schools are set up and how lab techs do certain things.

I just have to add that yesterday as I bought some supplies for a prac class called "Eat your Brain", (which involves sticking lollies in to peeled oranges with toothpicks to simulate different parts of the brain and then it's eaten) teh lady behind me commented on the amount of lollies I was buying, and I said they were for a school prac and she said that she was a lab tech too! We had a nice little chat

[coxy]

I store our tt in the Prep room, and hand them out when required. We store ours in ice cream containers. I always put requests in our weekly newsletters for items such as ice cream containers, corks from winebottles, clean take-away food containers (great for small numbers of tt) and foam, aluminium cans, and all sorts of other things.

[Mojo]

Store them in a cupboard not draw so they dont roll around when you open it We bought small plastic containers that hold about 30 each

[ird]

We use disposable borosilicate culture tubes, 13x100mm & 16x150mm, original boxes as suplied, discarded into classroom sharps container, no washup contamination.
25x150mm & larger, plus all other glassware is distributed in class sets. Nothing to the students without passing through a LABTECHS hand, thus reducing risk causd by broken, cracked or chipped.