How to be "thrifty" with science equipment?

[bugs]

My dd will be starting Conceptual Physics in a couple of weeks. I am searching for a way to find most of the equipment I need "used" if possible, to help keep costs down. I just don't know where to go to find used 600 ml beakers, 500 ml graduated cylinders, ring stands, etc. Does any one have any idea? Yes, I know I've procrastinated :glare:.

 

Thank you.

[Chris in VA]

I bought a used lab kit (for Apologia chem) from someone on HSC. Turned out she lived very close.

[Jane in NC]

My dd will be starting Conceptual Physics in a couple of weeks. I am searching for a way to find most of the equipment I need "used" if possible, to help keep costs down. I just don't know where to go to find used 600 ml beakers, 500 ml graduated cylinders, ring stands, etc. Does any one have any idea? Yes, I know I've procrastinated :glare:.

 

Thank you.

 

Beakers and cylinders for Conceptual Physics? Or are you doing Conceptual Chemistry?

[regentrude]

If money is the issue, you might want to carefully think about what each experiment is supposed to accomplish and whether you could improvise by substituting some other piece of equipment you already own.

For example: for which physics experiment do you need a 600ml beaker? How will you be using it? Could you accomplish the same objective with a household measuring cup that holds two cups and has a ml scale?

 

(As a physics teacher, I am curious, too: what do you do with the graded cylinder for conceptual physics?)

[bugs]

If money is the issue, you might want to carefully think about what each experiment is supposed to accomplish and whether you could improvise by substituting some other piece of equipment you already own.

For example: for which physics experiment do you need a 600ml beaker? How will you be using it? Could you accomplish the same objective with a household measuring cup that holds two cups and has a ml scale?

 

(As a physics teacher, I am curious, too: what do you do with the graded cylinder for conceptual physics?)

 

The 500 ml graduated cylinder is for a displacement experiment and archimedes principle.

 

DD will be using the lab manual for CP 9th edition. It utilizes plenty of household items and I did not schedule all the labs because I don't feel we really need a van de graff device, for instance, to demonstrate static electricity, etc. Or, I omitted labs that used a complicated device only once and opted to use an on-line lab as a substitute. I figure items such as beakers, graduated cylinders, etc. could be used again in other science courses. I am also looking for a little more accuracy in the equipment since she will be doing some simple calculations.

 

That all being said, I'm not really sure how much accuracy, or how often high schoolers need to do a lab to get the "lab" credit. Do any of you know?

 

I am sure I can get away with my lab equipment costs for under $200 dollars that would include an electronic balance. But, if there are such places as stores/depots that carry used science equipment which I could liberate from the garbage piles of America, and pay less, it would please me to do so.

 

Does all my rampling make sense? Thanks so much for helping.

[kalanamak]

Is 6 bucks too much? Can you use a smaller one and just make a smaller problem?

 

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/graduated-cylinders/c/133/

[Miss Marple]

I found some great deals on ebay.

[Guest TheBugsMom]

. I am also looking for a little more accuracy in the equipment since she will be doing some simple calculations.

 

That all being said, I'm not really sure how much accuracy, or how often high schoolers need to do a lab to get the "lab" credit. Do any of you know?

 

I am sure I can get away with my lab equipment costs for under $200 dollars that would include an electronic balance. But, if there are such places as stores/depots that carry used science equipment which I could liberate from the garbage piles of America, and pay less, it would please me to do so.

 

Does all my rampling make sense? Thanks so much for helping.

Don't expect beakers to be accurate their measurements are 'abouts' . A measuring cup will suffice for accuracy if it has marks for metric.

 

Ebay is great for used lab glassware. Another alternative is plastic labware if for basic non corrosive solvents. They are cheap and about as accurate as needed for the labs homeschoolers do. I have several plastic beakers and graduated cylinders that have held up for over 12 years.

[Lori D.]

We're doing Conceptual Physics (CP) with older DS this year (and Conceptual Chemistry with younger DS), and I'm finding kits seem to be the overall cheapest way to get the biggest bang for my buck.

 

For CP labs, we're using TOPS units (some of which I already owned), and which use a lot of household items. We're also using the Homescience Tools Physics Introduction Kit for $50; it has a booklet with 17 activities that all fit in very nicely with chapters 4, 5, 6, and 8 of CP. The supplies from this kit are "durable" (reuseable), and can be used in some of the labs for in the CP lab manual, which extends the usefulness and value of buying the kit.

 

The $50 Magnetism & Electricity Kit (which comes with supplies and the book "Safe and Simple Electrical Experiments) has 100 experiments you can match up with chapters 32-37 of CP.

 

TOPS also sells some supplies to go with their units that could be supplies that match up with your needs, and their supplies are usually fairly inexpensive: http://www.topscience.org/collections/order_supplies.html

 

A great home substitute for test tubes are empty glass spice bottles. Pyrex measuring cups (I have a set of 3 nesting ones: 1 cup, 2 cups, 4 cups) can sometimes substitute for graduated cylinders.

 

And for larger ticket items, can you see if you would be allowed to come in on off-hours of a public/private school, community college, or university and use a microscope, scale, etc.? Or do you know anyone who works in any of those places who has access and would allow you to bring it home over a weekend to borrow?

 

And, as always, see if you can find used kits even cheaper on the Sale/Swap board here, or at Veg Source, or Homeschool Classifieds -- or locally!

Edited September 4, 2010 by Lori D.

[DebbS]

We're doing Conceptual Physics this year and using this:

 

Take Home Physics - 65 High Impact, Low Cost Labs.

 

You don't need any special equipment because you use stuff that is normally found around the house or at your local hardware store - even the displacement experiments. The labs are really very good.

[bugs]

Thanks to all for the suggestions and helps. I did just get a couple good deals on ebay. But as I asked around I learned that your state (or at least WA state) General Administration group takes care of surplus materials of all kinds. So you can go to their surplus store and find treasures (like microscopes, books, salon chairs :tongue_smilie:, etc) or their on-line auction. Here is the link to the country wide public surplus site. You can sort via your state (I think you need to pick up any item you win in an on-line auction). http://www.publicsurplus.com/

 

Hope this helps others.