Australia's Science Forum

Hi All
We are in the position of relocating our science department to a new purpose-built facility on our current site and wonder what people suggest as non-negotiable requirements (or even dream items) for a new facility. At the moment it's all about wish lists - so I'd be interested in people's responses to what they'd like if they could start from scratch. I've brainstormed a few ideas, but sure you all could make my wish list longer!

Lucky to have the opportunity to have input on new workplace.
I would start with a decent dishwasher, sinks deep enough to wash burettes safely, a compactus for equipment storage, a BIG flammable cupboard, chem store BIG again with legal extractor system, students ( and teachers ) who realise that NO ACCESS signs are not just decorative and a heating/cooling system that makes work just a little more comfortable.
Not that I have much time to think about this as this term has been rather a big pain in all ways but I would like a decent computer to stay in touch with the wonderful people in chemtalk land.
Have a great break...recharge and refresh yourselves.
Be safe

We built a new lab for the start of this year but without consultation with the labbie! I have a dishwasher and love it, large sink which is great but not deep enough for a burette, an amazing prep bench 5m long.
What I would have liked and miss from the old prep room are the small drawers instead I have kitchen drawers, but a compactus would be excellent for equipment, for chem store the relevent cabinets are great eg flammable,corrosive oxidisers etc. Stool to sit at and a desk are for computer and documentation. You could also visit other labs at schools and universities for ideas!

I know most of you guys are in holiday-land already, but to follow up on my first question, I was wondering how many labs / storage-prep areas you have, how many students at your school and how many do science?

We have 950 students on site (yrs 8-12 only), about 700 doing science (600 juniors and 100 in the senior subject-specific classes). I have 6 labs, 5 prep / storage areas (plus the chem bunker). Current trends and predictions suggest 1500+ by 2025.

So my question is: how many labs do we need if we are able to rebuild completely? what is the max number of students per lab that you allow (or would like to see)? Some of our classes currently have 32+

We have only 6 Labs with a class in for every lesson( that's 5 periods a day each), 4 are for the Jnr's and 2 Snr ones.We have just over 1250 students from year 7 to 12.
All 7-10 do science and that's 8 classes per year group plus we have 2 yr11 chem classes, 2 yr12 Chems, 2 yr11 bio, 2 yr12 bio, 1 in both for phys and gen sci.We have one store room, one prep-room with the chem store in the prep-room as well , but this is it's own room.They are going to build us a second small store room next to Lab 6
We have two of us working here to keep up with the work load and a quiet day would be 6-8 pracs, when busy it's up to 16 pracs.
We can have up to 30 in each Jnr class but I would love to see it reduced to 26 after what I see sometimes.
hope this helps a little

I also have compactus and grantell shelves in the prep-room and love it for easy storage and access to equipment. I have all the shelves labled A1 to N6 with a list of what is on each shelve. This has taken me years to complete where I'm now really happy with our system

Thanks for the input, Tuesday.
6-8 pracs a days on an easy day? Our teachers have slacked off over this year and I don't normally see more than 5 or 6 pracs a week (much to the disgust of the Science Co-ordinator who is trying to push for more practical work)!
Not that I mind, as for the last 2 terms I have spent 80% of my time preparing for a WHS audit (I'm the site WHS Manager as well as Lab Manager - finally talked the Principal into back-filling behind me in Science for a few hours per week).

Gratnells are the best part about my lab. I am a bit of a newt freak so I like everything being packed away where it belongs and out of sight. We only have 450 students with 4 labs and 3 prep rooms (plus them store). If I were to re design our labs I would change where the sinks are in the classrooms. When you look at the designs, make sure that the sinks are located in the labs. This may seem silly but practicality is the key. It is important for students to be able to hook up distillation equipment etc and be able to work on their benches and drain anything into the sink as required.

Also... POWERPOINTS! We have 3-4 bays in each lab with no access to power without an extension cord.This is nightmare at times. Especially with prac tests where we need to spread students out.

We do have dark benches (a dark purple colour) and they are great. You can't see any stains! Im not sure about everyone else but our labs double as classrooms. As a teacher and a lab tech I really appreciate having the centre of the room carpeted. There is a clear distinction between the bays and the desks and it is much better in terms of acoustics with the carpet. It also means it is easier to divide students between those doing lab work and those who need to continue doing their theory work.

Draws AND shelves! All of our bays have draws and shelves so that the basic equipment is available to students at all times. They are easy to store and access.

Hi David
We have about 180 students in each year from Year 7 to 12, six classes in each of the junior years which means 32 kids in each class. I am so glad I am not a teacher trying to keep track of such a big class, especially if it is a more challenging class. The teachers would like to see smaller classes but that's what we have to deal with. Having said that, I have been here 18 months and the kids are pretty good without any major incidents.
I have one, very large prep room and one good size store room. I have to share a fume cupboard with the lab next door which I'm not fond of. I try to avoid using it whilst there is a class in the lab - just what I don't need - 64 eyes watching me as I spill something!
When planning a new science block, I would ask for way more storage than you think you're going to need. Plan ahead, too, so all the similar equipment is kept together without having to rearrange things later.

And 5 or 6 pracs a week! Make the most of it. An easy day here is 4 or 5 pracs and a busy day could be up to 15. I've learnt to start telling people "NO MORE".