Australia's Science Forum

Received this question this morning from another Lab Tech....
"Science focus 2 for Year 8. Making cottage cheese page 75. I need rennin,ie can use junket tablets but what exactly do they mean by “culture of microbes” … "
Any one out there able to help?

Most of the teachers here are happy with the agar plates - even though I don't have a microwave and I don't have an autoclave, so sterilising is a problem... However, one teacher wants plates as sterile as those used in a pathology lab... :mad: Anyone any idea if they can be purchased, where from, a...

Just imagine what bacteria you will find on the agar when you finally get to clean it up!!! It could be amazing - you may find an organism no one has ever discovered yet...it would need a name .. mmm. thinking thinking...anyone got any ideas?

oh thank tou for that laugh today ... one of my fish died last night...

Have a look on-line at the "The Logical Interface" site... Phil Jones has a document there comparing Data Loggers...we had him at our local In-service on Friday - brilliant!

We use Haztech.

Money doesnt come into it when safety is concerned! I only buy 500mLs of all acids except HCl, which I buy from local Hardware outlet because it is so cheap there.... For classes who need conc. Sulfuric (esters etc) I use a 50mL dropper bottle which sits in a plastic beaker filled with sand and I pu...

I am contemplating moving to Melbourne in the future to be close to my children who have gone down that way to live. What is the employment like down that way? Does anyone know what the working conditions are like? pay? are most of the labbies young - and therefore likely to stay in their jobs for y...

Thanks for that - looks like that takes care of what I was going to do for lunch today! It's a bit of a shock when you havent had any problems for a few years and you come in on a Monday to find your fish looking miserable ... Has anyone seen what happens when a naughty student adds a little deterge...

My thoughts go out to the Lab assistant - sulfuric is a nasty one, even diluted. I worked at an industry where it was a by-product and I had to test it every day. I was waiting for the sampler to arrive - he never did.... he had spilt some on himself and, in trying to find somewhere to wash it off, ...

I have had goldfish in the classroom for yonks. But suddenly they are not well. have fin rot and white spot. I havent added any new fish or plants so have no idea where it has come from. Have checked water condition. Any ideas out there? I dont have a lot of time at my disposal so any quick remedies...

Any jobs going at your school - when you win the big one????

My incubator was sited on the bench in the Prep room. Every year when students did the prac of growing bacteria or mould in petri dishes I would become ill - one year it developed into pneumonia and I was very ill. I moved the incubator into a fume-cupboard and havent had a problem since. Work relat...

In our system, we get paid for 40 weeks a year, but it is spread over the 52 weeks.. we don't 'work' full time so we only get a proportion of the full-time pay... If we are asked to work in holiday time we get over-time pay.... It would be nice to be paid for what the job is really worth - we would ...

How wonderful those frogs are!!! I wonder how they would cope though with the really kind students that I have who decided end of last year that the gold fish could do with a bit of a clean and put detergent into the tank in the last period! #-o The next morning I opened the door to be met by a floo...

HELP!!! In Senior Science we do a prac where we use Sudan III to distinguish between oil-in-water and water-in-oil in skin products... eg Nivea creme hand creams etc... has anyone else out there done this one? I can't work out the difference and why it matters, :unsure: but the teacher can .. which ...

My roars of laughter just brough a teacher into my Prep room.... his comment "work isn't supposed to be funny!"

Help! If this is banned what can we use to replace it? We use it as a test for oil in Senior Science ... has anyone else got some prac to replace it with?

I have always wanted an alpaca ...sigh... but the school won't let me have one... and my own yard is too small ... You could swap the goat for them! I would also like some axilotls - but again ...nope ...sigh... Maybe instead they would let me have a cappucino machine, an air-conditioner.... oh drea...

I also have a copy of the Risk Assessments - but I haven't had time to even open the book yet!!!! I think it came with the CD that the school recieved - my Head teacher gave me a copy.. I think you can order it.