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Ok, this is going to sound very ignorant, and kind of odd from someone who has actually done science in a couple of different fields during her professional life, but what the heck is a high school science lab supposed to be, anyway?  I keep using that word, but I do not think it means what I think it means.  ;)

 

When I think about a lab, I think automatically about doing an experiment - coming up with a question, doing some research, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and writing up a lab report.  But when I look at curricula, books, online description of labs, I see a lot of other things being done that I'd call something different - demonstrations, dissections, observations, collections, projects, investigations, analyzing data sets.  Do those things all count as labs?  How do you define labs for the different sciences? Can you give me examples of things that you've done for labs for the different sciences? And how many you've done in a year?

 

I like the idea of doing experiments, but those suckers can take some time.  I can't imagine doing one a week.  One every two weeks if that's all you are doing, maybe.  One a month sounds more civilized.  But are there a bunch of things that count as labs that maybe I'm not thinking of that way?  I'm kind of hoping so. I want to do a bunch of those things, too, and if they are also considered labs, I'm golden.  :)

Edited by Chrysalis Academy
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I don't consider demonstrations to be labs.

 

We used a kit from labpaq for chemistry. Microchem, very well explained, good questions for students to read up on theory - can recommend them. Not too time intensive, a couple of hours or so per lab.

 

For physics, we basically designed our own. The value is not in sophisticated experimental equipment, but in a thorough analysis. We used a lot of simple household materials and did really good labs. Examples:

Simple pendulum: does period depend on mass? On length of string? On amplitude? If dependence, what mathematical relationship?

Box on inclined plane. Does max angle for which box does not slide depend on mass of box?

 

We did not do a lab for bio. There I can see more potential for simply observing something; I would definitely consider it a lab if a student examined something under a microscope, even if it is just to observe.

Edited by regentrude
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I think all of the things you mentioned can be legitimate high school science lab activities.  I think many people think of hypothesis-driven science as the only legitimate science for high school, and forget that discovery based science is equally valid.  For example, for a high school biology lab, it is perfectly appropriate to spend an entire lab learning to use the microscope proficiently (focusing, oil immersion, measuring, depth of field exercises), or to spend an entire lab studying blood (it's chemistry, cells under a microscope, chemistry of blood), a few labs of dissection, a lab looking at plant anatomy), a video about viruses and then discuss current events like ebola, etc...  I do not think every high school lab has to be hypothesis-driven science.

 

As for what I am planning for DD for biology: The microscope day (described above), an ecology lab that examines survival of the fittest (hypothesis-driven), several genetics labs that simulate transcription and protein synthesis with models, looking at slides of different stages of mitosis and simulating mitosis with pop beads, DNA extraction, Mendelian genetics lab, a plant lab that looks at plant anatomy (macro and microscopic), a bacterial lab where we swab different house surfaces and Gram stain the colonies (hypothesis-driven), a book discussion on a related book like The Double Helix/Spillover/Only A Theory, a macromolecule biochemical testing lab of unknown foods(hypothesis-driven) , a protist lab where we scoop pond water and examine and identify small critters, a taxonomy lab where we look at dichotomous key construction, a photosynthesis lab where we look at

carbon dioxide uptake/chloroplast structure/function/plant pigment paper chromatography, to name several.  I haven't yet planned chemistry or physics, so I am not sure what I will do with those. 

 

I would just plug in labs where you had something valuable to demonstrate or examine; that should be most weeks, but I don't think a week without a lab is a big deal.  What I would do is get away from the idea that a high school biology lab has to function with only hypothesis driven science and be elaborately constructed.  It's high school, not MIT, and the kids need to learn the basics of how to function in a lab first; gotta walk before you run, 'ya know?

Ok, this is going to sound very ignorant, and kind of odd from someone who has actually done science in a couple of different fields during her professional life, but what the heck is a high school science lab supposed to be, anyway?  I keep using that word, but I do not think it means what I think it means.  ;)

 

When I think about a lab, I think automatically about doing an experiment - coming up with a question, doing some research, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and writing up a lab report.  But when I look at curricula, books, online description of labs, I see a lot of other things being done that I'd call something different - demonstrations, dissections, observations, collections, projects, investigations, analyzing data sets.  Do those things all count as labs?  How do you define labs for the different sciences? Can you give me examples of things that you've done for labs for the different sciences? And how many you've done in a year?

 

I like the idea of doing experiments, but those suckers can take some time.  I can't imagine doing one a week.  One every two weeks if that's all you are doing, maybe.  One a month sounds more civilized.  But are there a bunch of things that count as labs that maybe I'm not thinking of that way?  I'm kind of hoping so. I want to do a bunch of those things, too, and if they are also considered labs, I'm golden.  :)

 

Edited by reefgazer
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Ok, this is going to sound very ignorant, and kind of odd from someone who has actually done science in a couple of different fields during her professional life, but what the heck is a high school science lab supposed to be, anyway?  I keep using that word, but I do not think it means what I think it means.  ;)

 

When I think about a lab, I think automatically about doing an experiment - coming up with a question, doing some research, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and writing up a lab report.  But when I look at curricula, books, online description of labs, I see a lot of other things being done that I'd call something different - demonstrations, dissections, observations, collections, projects, investigations, analyzing data sets.  Do those things all count as labs?  How do you define labs for the different sciences? Can you give me examples of things that you've done for labs for the different sciences? And how many you've done in a year?

 

I like the idea of doing experiments, but those suckers can take some time.  I can't imagine doing one a week.  One every two weeks if that's all you are doing, maybe.  One a month sounds more civilized.  But are there a bunch of things that count as labs that maybe I'm not thinking of that way?  I'm kind of hoping so. I want to do a bunch of those things, too, and if they are also considered labs, I'm golden.  :)

 

I think that a lab in a high school setting isn't necessarily an experiment in the scientific sense.  It is a process of doing several steps in a laboratory setting, recording what happens and trying to draw a conclusion.

 

I realize that this doesn't come up to experiment status in many cases.  I think that it is still a valuable experience and training for when they are equipped to do experiments.

 

FWIW, even the majority of the undergrad classes I took in chemistry, physics and electrical engineering didn't involve experimental design, but did require lab work.  (This was for non-science-major science courses.)

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I don't think any of the labs I did in high school were actually experiments.  Some were simply demonstrations, but many of them were set up in the form of an experiment, but we generally knew what the outcome would be because we could see it in the text or we saw the teacher do it first.

 

There seemed to be a few goals with this:

 

 - becoming comfortable with the equipment, safety procedures, and techniques.

 

- to see things that we read about for ourselves (for example, the frog dissection allowed us to look at a real frog's insides, rather than just the diagram.)

 

- to practice the method for setting up an experiment by reproducing what someone else had done, including writing up the lab report as if it were an experiment.  I think this is a bit like copying the style of a piece of writing to get a feel for how to produce something original.

 

-to see how the things we learned in class - like doing equations in chemistry - would fit in in a concrete setting.

 

I think these are all useful things, and to some extent I suspect it can be difficult for kids in some subjects to do something like a real subject - they may not yet have the basic knowledge to make a prediction, or the ability to see how to use their mathematical tools to help them.  On the other hand, I think this sort of thing can lead to sloppiness - the kids know the answer they are supposed to get and will often fudge their results, or just put differences in what happens down to human error without figuring out why, and teachers may not give them the time or tools to do so anyway. (In fact I read an interesting interview with James Lovelock once where he said he saw this problem commonly among university students, and he felt that was something he avoided because he worked as a lab tech in industry before he ever went to university himself.)

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I believe labs are a bit overrated. I teach the physical high school sciences at our co-op, and the parents want the focus to be the labs. Our state requires 2 credits in a lab science with 4 total. Many parents are uncomfortable leading labs at home, so it helps fill that requirement. Labs are more fun in a group setting, too.

 

The schedule we have will put chemistry year after next. Honestly, I feel many of these kids will need my help with the actual material and problems more than the labs, so I'm hoping to persuade the parents to let me keep labs on the back burner.

 

I think the best labs are microscope work, dissections, and labs where you are practicing calculations. The absolute best labs are when you don't get the expected result, and you work on figuring out why. That can't be predicted how often it will happen, though.

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Ok, you guys are making me feel better. Like many things, I had delusions of grandeur about labs - or at least higher expectations than are reasonable.

 

So now I need to cut, cut cut.  Hmm, how to choose?

 

I am not near having to deal with this yet, but I would probably think of it in terms of building from the basics.

 

So - first, what lab skills are they actually going to need in order to work in the lab safely?  How to use the equipment, how things are done and recorded.

 

If you have a list of thse things, you can look at what kind of activities would be appropriate practice.  I suspect you'll find that a lot of things will double up - if you have a few labs which you choose so kids can learn how to use a microscope, they will also be getting some kind of content information about it as well.

 

It also seems to me in hindsight, that most of the real experiments we did in school were actually through our science projects.  So - we did about one of those a year, where we had to really set up the whole thing from scratch and see it through.  That seems like it might actually be pretty doable, you could focus on a different science each year perhaps.

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I think all of the things you mentioned can be legitimate high school science lab activities.  I think many people think of hypothesis-driven science as the only legitimate science for high school, and forget that discovery based science is equally valid.  For example, for a high school biology lab, it is perfectly appropriate to spend an entire lab learning to use the microscope proficiently (focusing, oil immersion, measuring, depth of field exercises), or to spend an entire lab studying blood (it's chemistry, cells under a microscope, chemistry of blood), a few labs of dissection, a lab looking at plant anatomy), a video about viruses and then discuss current events like ebola, etc...  I do not think every high school lab has to be hypothesis-driven science.

 

What reef said exactly.

 

There are many legitimate uses of science lab time. One is to learn the scientific method, apply it and discover something. Another is to see the application of what you have learned. Demonstrations count if the child is the one demonstrating - not you. So if the lab just demonstrates a concept, that is absolutely an appropriate high school lab. I have seen the lightbulb moments that happen why my kids do demonstration labs. Learning to use lab equipment, dissections that allow kids to see what the pictures are only hinting at, there are so many ways to use lab time. Some of them are quick and easy. Some of them are messy. Some of them are long. Variety is wonderful in all things, science labs are not excluded from this rule in my opinion. :)

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I have kind of an interesting perspective, because my kid was actually participating in graduate level research before actually doing the high school labs.

 

And I think the big benefit of the standard high school labs is that it is so clear cut that you can practice the process, both of setting it up and writing it up, with clear right and wrong answers.

 

For example, right now DD is doing the standard drosophila genetics lab. White eyes, red eyes, curvy wings, flat wings, etc. known, documented, no surprises. But lots of practice looking at little tiny things under a microscope, of recording, of doing the data analysis to see if they really do follow the expected distribution. Very controlled.

 

She's also regularly rolling cover boards and checking sites for Earth snake population studies. Which is getting frustrating, because so far this year, in known population sites, she's found one, dead, snake. Not controlled, not at all what is expected, and while negative results are still results, not much to analyze. She knows this is abnormal because this is the fourth Spring that she's done this. She does not yet know why, even enough to formulate a secondary hypothesis.

 

We went to a talk at SERMACS last year where the researcher found out that things labeled as a specific compound actually weren't. After collecting a lot of data that was supposed to support and refute a hypothesis. For PhD level researchers, this was noticeable because they were so used to seeing the spectrographic analysis that it stuck out like a sore thumb, and they were confident enough about their skills to be able to narrow it to the sample not being what was expected pretty easily, and then test the secondary hypothesis that the label on the stock bottle from the supplier was wrong. As it turned out, wrong from three different supply houses. For a high school student who hasn't run the tests enough times to be able to see the abnormalities, this wouldn't have stuck out. You have to see the normal to be able to see the abnormal.

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I will comment briefly on scheduling. We have sprinkled labs through the year. But we are two weeks away from finishing the textbook chapters I had scheduled. We will have about eight more weeks of school, and will spend most of the remaining biology time on labs.

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Rose, look at your goals. Will she need to get familiar with a method or a piece of equipment? Will she benefit from seeing a process in action?

 

Some of the labs we've done in physics this year have helped reinforce the problem sets she's done. (Like regentrude's pendulum example)

 

Your goals will help you decide your activities. You might be able to cut some and you might consider adding one (or to one) on the fly if you see the need.

Edited by RootAnn
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Ok, you guys are making me feel better. Like many things, I had delusions of grandeur about labs - or at least higher expectations than are reasonable.

 

So now I need to cut, cut cut. Hmm, how to choose?

I choose mostly based on course objectives, and shoot for a couple of different things:

 

1) skills, lab procedures, and habits (eg how to handle, adjust, use, store, and trouble shoot your microscope, or using accurate volumetric measurements and massing solids to make specific concentration of a solution)

How many and which is determined by what you plan to do in categories 2 and 3

 

2) discovering, demonstrating, or illucidating a concept (eg using mark and recapture of beans (simulation) to demonstrate population sampling or the central limit theorem, or calculating horizontal projectile motion motion problems then comparing to actual results)

These are the bulk of what I choose, and do roughly one a week (maybe less).

 

3) scientific process practice (hypothesis-driven experimentation, with data analysis, conclusions, and tidy report - these are the most time-consuming to structure, less frequently done, but I think they are the most important part of the "lab" component for cultivating scientifically literate and critically thinking individuals)

You might choose select labs like these to do quarterly or up to 6 a year.

 

4) science in society - ethics problems, evaluating non-professional scientific articles, science in lit/film discussions, creative problem solving projects in science, etc

These I schedule about as frequently as #3 (4-6 in a year).

 

What science course are you planning right now?

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We're doing a home-made course I'm provisionally calling Ecology, Evolution, and the Natural History of California.  My elevator description is "Course covers fundamental ecological principles, including ecosystem structure and function, evolution and biodiversity and population and community ecology; and studies in-depth each of the biomes of California, with particular emphasis on riparian and forest ecosystems. Labs focus on understanding ecosystem parts and interactions, identifying flora and fauna of CA, botany, forestry, and watershed science."

 

That offers me an awful lot of leeway as to what can constitute a lab.  But I want it to be legit - I'm not trying to pull a fast one, I'm trying to design a course based on my own expertise that teaches my dd fundamental scientific principles as well as field practices, and familiarizes her with her environment in a very deep and rigorous way - kind of the ultimate place-based scientific literacy.  We're super excited about it, but for the past few months I've been in the ingathering mode - collecting resources.  Now it's time to narrow it down and create something that is actually doable in a year.  So number of labs, and what of the many things that I"m planning for us "count" as a lab is important to me. This will be one of her 3-4 lab sciences.

Edited by Chrysalis Academy
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We're doing a home-made course I'm provisionally calling Ecology, Evolution, and the Natural History of California. My elevator description is "Course covers fundamental ecological principles, including evolution and natural selection, and studies in-depth each of the biomes of California, with particular emphasis on riparian and forest ecosystems. Labs focus on identifying flora and fauna of CA, botany, forestry, and watershed science." That offers me an awful lot of leeway as to what can constitute a lab. But I want it to be legit - I'm not trying to pull a fast one, I'm trying to design a course based on my own expertise that teaches my dd fundamental scientific principles as well as field practices, and familiarizes her with her environment in a very deep and rigorous way - kind of the ultimate place-based scientific literacy. We're super excited about it, but for the past few months I've been in the ingathering mode - collecting resources. Now it's time to narrow it down and create something that is actually doable in a year. So number of labs, and what of the many things that I"m planning for us "count" as a lab is important to me. This will be one of her 3-4 lab sciences.

:heart:

We did something similar last year - Natural and Cultural History of (our) State - designed by me, and it covered science and state history, emphasizing ecology, geology, native peoples, natural resources and successive industries. It was so much fun!

 

Have fun with the course!!

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This lab guide:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Biology-Laboratory-Murray-Pendarvis/dp/0895827999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460134675&sr=8-1&keywords=pendarvis+and+crawley+biology+laboratory

 

is an excellent resource for an introductory biology lab.  You can pick and choose among a ton of experiments/exercises, based on what suits your needs.  It also has an excellent dissection guide with clear photos, if that's your thing.  I would opt for a few major experiments/exercises, and then on other weeks, look at smaller projects/demonstrations.discussions.

 

Ok, you guys are making me feel better. Like many things, I had delusions of grandeur about labs - or at least higher expectations than are reasonable.

 

So now I need to cut, cut cut.  Hmm, how to choose?

 

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I just talked to my dd about her labs at college. She took chemistry for nursing last semester and is in human anatomy and physiology now. She said that almost nothing she did in her high school labs could have made any difference in her labs now. She said the labs have been fully teaching and explaining every aspect because they really have no way to determine how much lab experience each person has had. Basic safety and how to write a lab report are probably the most important things she learned in high school, but even those were covered in the beginning of the class. The safety rules there are much more strict because of working with more dangerous chemicals and equipment. She said you could literally take one day and do a few kinds of labs before starting college and be fine. 

 

It's just her experience, but I know my dh said that high schools in our area don't do many labs because of the cost. 

 

Edited by mom31257
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I bought this one for physics labs:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Home-Physics-High-Impact-Low-Cost-PB240X/dp/1935155059/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460149493&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=365+take+home+physics+labs

 

I'm trying to figure out if there is anything in there that is not covered that I should cover.  I do think generally speaking though it's very decent and will be easy to implement at home. 

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Ok, you guys are making me feel better. Like many things, I had delusions of grandeur about labs - or at least higher expectations than are reasonable.

 

So now I need to cut, cut cut.  Hmm, how to choose?

 

Do the stuff that looks like fun!  I'm not sure about why folks think labs associated with science classes need to be hypothesis driven.  Why can't you just study the theory, follow a commonly accepted protocol and see the cool results?

 

My dd was learning about bacterial transformation, so I purchased this bacterial transformation kit from Edvotek.  In the process of completing this lab, my dd learns how to plate agar using a pipetter using a reasonable approximation of sterile technique.  (More or less.)  She'll actually use antibiotics to select for transformed cells.  She will learn how to streak bacteria onto said plates.  She'll use a micropipetter to draw out plasmid DNA and other reagents.  She'll be using a water bath and incubator.  And she'll get the sights (and smells) of working in a real lab.  And at the end of it all...cute little bacterial colonies in pink, purple, and blue!  How cool is that?  

 

These are great memories, and if she ever does decide to do some biology research, maybe, maybe she will be using these skills...or she'll need to learn something else altogether.  But I doubt she will ever forget about how bacteria can sometimes pick up DNA from their surroundings.  

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Do the stuff that looks like fun!  I'm not sure about why folks think labs associated with science classes need to be hypothesis driven.  Why can't you just study the theory, follow a commonly accepted protocol and see the cool results?

 

My dd was learning about bacterial transformation, so I purchased this bacterial transformation kit from Edvotek.  In the process of completing this lab, my dd learns how to plate agar using a pipetter using a reasonable approximation of sterile technique.  (More or less.)  She'll actually use antibiotics to select for transformed cells.  She will learn how to streak bacteria onto said plates.  She'll use a micropipetter to draw out plasmid DNA and other reagents.  She'll be using a water bath and incubator.  And she'll get the sights (and smells) of working in a real lab.  And at the end of it all...cute little bacterial colonies in pink, purple, and blue!  How cool is that?  

 

These are great memories, and if she ever does decide to do some biology research, maybe, maybe she will be using these skills...or she'll need to learn something else altogether.  But I doubt she will ever forget about how bacteria can sometimes pick up DNA from their surroundings.  

 

Wow that looks like fun!

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Do the stuff that looks like fun! I'm not sure about why folks think labs associated with science classes need to be hypothesis driven. Why can't you just study the theory, follow a commonly accepted protocol and see the cool results?

 

My dd was learning about bacterial transformation, so I purchased this bacterial transformation kit from Edvotek. In the process of completing this lab, my dd learns how to plate agar using a pipetter using a reasonable approximation of sterile technique. (More or less.) She'll actually use antibiotics to select for transformed cells. She will learn how to streak bacteria onto said plates. She'll use a micropipetter to draw out plasmid DNA and other reagents. She'll be using a water bath and incubator. And she'll get the sights (and smells) of working in a real lab. And at the end of it all...cute little bacterial colonies in pink, purple, and blue! How cool is that?

 

These are great memories, and if she ever does decide to do some biology research, maybe, maybe she will be using these skills...or she'll need to learn something else altogether. But I doubt she will ever forget about how bacteria can sometimes pick up DNA from their surroundings.

I agree with Sparkly. Totally awesome. I am going to add this to dd's bio class next yr!

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I agree with Sparkly. Totally awesome. I am going to add this to dd's bio class next yr!

 

I've done this one and Edvotek's DNA electrophoresis lab.  They have several youtube videos that describe how to complete all the steps in the lab.  I still run through the protocol myself before the kids to work out the kinks.  

 

For example, in the bacterial transformation, I was nearly finished, just about ready to put my transformed bacterial colonies into the incubator overnight...when I dropped a plate.  Of course, it wasn't one of my many controls.  It was the plate that would actually transform and produce colorful proteins.  Ugh.  I incubated it anyway, though a lot of the bacteria had spilled out.  And I still got reasonable results.  Not as awesome looking as on their website, but good enough.  

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I think what your DD experienced is generally true for most colleges, but only because so many students come in woefully under-prepared for a lab science and the extensive safety prep is a CYA move for colleges.  But as homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to make sure our kids are well-prepared for a university lab, regardless of what the public school will be doing.

I just talked to my dd about her labs at college. She took chemistry for nursing last semester and is in human anatomy and physiology now. She said that almost nothing she did in her high school labs could have made any difference in her labs now. She said the labs have been fully teaching and explaining every aspect because they really have no way to determine how much lab experience each person has had. Basic safety and how to write a lab report are probably the most important things she learned in high school, but even those were covered in the beginning of the class. The safety rules there are much more strict because of working with more dangerous chemicals and equipment. She said you could literally take one day and do a few kinds of labs before starting college and be fine. 

 

It's just her experience, but I know my dh said that high schools in our area don't do many labs because of the cost. 

 

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Just a quick comment from a middle school hybrid teacher... labs teach kids how to look closely. I am stunned how many kids need to be taught how to focus and really examine something. SLOW DOWN and really connect to what you are examining. Also learning how to report data through charts, graphs, tables, and drawings is so basic, but it is important to learn how to do that and how to make it look neat. 

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