Jenny in Florida Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I thought those of you who helped me decide which way to go with our chem labs for this year might be interested to see the kit I assembled. I spent $67 on equipment from Home Science Tools, scrounged a few left-overs from the last pass through chemistry and saved assorted small containers from household stuff. Otherwise, it's all from the dollar and grocery store. I actually spent $116, but the round number sounds better as a title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbeym Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Looks great! I don't even want to think about having to deal with a chem lab in my house yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Wow, I'm totally impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Awesome job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'll be watching for your chem posts this year :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 I'll be watching for your chem posts this year :D But no pressure, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I wanna come to your house! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 But no pressure, right? No pressure :D I spent soooooooooo many years of my life in academic chem labs (in school and then teaching) that I'm trying to envision a homeschool high school chem lab. I think I'd miss all the fancy equipment I used to use :tongue_smilie: Seriously, I really am looking forward to reading about your year. I've been following your posts since I showed up here. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I thought those of you who helped me decide which way to go with our chem labs for this year might be interested to see the kit I assembled. So which way did you decide to go with the labs. I'm still undecided how to do the labs this year. Any hints? Help? Also what chemicals did you end up buying? What I really would like is for someone to send me a list of about 10 chemistry labs that they did at home that I could do,too! Save me from reinventing the wheel and going totally gray! Ha! Myra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvaleri Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I'll be watching for your chem posts this year :D :iagree: Yes, as I will have two in chemistry next year. Please do keep us in your loop :001_smile: Smiles, Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 That looks awesome! I love science stuff, and I love Home Science Tools. I ordered from them a couple of weeks ago. Everything was so well packaged. It was fun to open the box. When you get a chance, would you mind listing what's in it, pretty please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 (edited) So which way did you decide to go with the labs. I'm still undecided how to do the labs this year. We're going with the lab series I pieced together from here and there. I bought a copy of this book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/teacher-friendly-chemistry-labs-and-activities-deanna-york/1012727951?ean=9781425930363 But I found that the majority of the suggestions were either impractical to do at home (assuming access to expensive equipment I don't have and can't buy, assuming groups of students, etc.) or so simple that I didn't think they were "enough" (cutting and pasting bits of paper). So, I scrounged some ideas from that book, then adapted them to make them fit the supplies and equipment I either had or could afford to buy. I also spent a LOT of time online searching for ideas. Once I had a good number of ideas, I compared the subject/goal of each one the text we're using and figured out how to more or less align them. Finally, I cut, pasted, retyped each lab into my own document, formatting everything consistently and re-writing anything I thought could be better for us. For simple lab procedures that didn't have enough or interesting enough questions, I wrote some. When any procedure didn't have enough explanation or the way in which it related to that week's text readings wasn't obvious, I researched and wrote brief additions. By the time I was done, I had a 92-page manual with 33 labs, some simple and others more complex. I poked around online until I found a lab report template I thought was reasonable for our purposes, and most labs have instructions to write one and specific questions to answer. Also what chemicals did you end up buying? All of our chemicals came from grocery and dollar stores, which I'm sure will make some of the "real" science people sputter. Here's what I decided: I think, for us, my goals for chem labs are for my son to learn the scientific method and science procedures (using equipment, documenting your work, designing an experiment, etc.), and some basic concepts and vocabulary (different kinds of reactions, balancing equations, chemical bonding, etc.). I would not expect a student in a first-year high school course who is not especially interested in hard science to memorize specific chemical properties. So, I decided that it was not a priority for this year for us to invest heavily in buying obscure or expensive chemicals. I decided that I wanted to be able to devote the majority of our budget to buying equipment. With that disclaimer, here's the list: - acetone (nail polish remover) - sodium carbonate (washing soda) - acetic acid, dilute (white vinegar) - calcium chloride (DampRid) - sodium borate (borax) - ammonium hydroxide (household ammonia) - magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) - isopropyl alcohol - hydrogen peroxide And, of course: - sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) I'm still looking for the sodium hydroxide (drain cleaner). I saw it at the local grocery store the day I went scouting to see if this plan was workable, but I can't find it now that I'm buying. I still have a couple of weeks before we need it, though. So, I'll find it before then. Edited September 1, 2012 by Jenny in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladykayaker Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Can you give us a list of the items in your chem set ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 When you get a chance, would you mind listing what's in it, pretty please? Can you give us a list of the items in your chem set ? Sorry, ladies. Life got busy, and I hadn't had a chance to come back and answer this question. I listed the chemicals above. In terms of equipment, the set has: Beaker, glass, 100 ml Glass Beaker Set, 5 pieces Grad. cylinder, poly, 10 ml Grad. cylinder, poly, 50 ml Grad. cylinder, poly, 100 ml Filter paper, 11 cm diameter, 100 sheets Flask, Erlenmeyer, 100 ml Flask, Erlenmeyer, 250 ml Wire gauze, ceramic center, 5" Alcohol lamp & stand set Pipet, disposable, 5 ml, 10 pack Stirring rod, glass, 10" long Rubber stopper, #0, 1-hole Tongs, crucible Test tube rack, 6 holes Test tubes, large 16x150 mm 2/pack Test tubes, small 13x100 mm 6/pack Litmus paper, red, 100 strips Alligator clip leads, 2/pack Iron, metal electrode, 4" Thermometers, 2 Goggles The largest graduated cylinder, one thermometer, the small Erlenmeyer and the goggles were left over from our previous run through chemistry. Everything else was ordered from HST for $67.19 including shipping. My $116 total also includes all of the "common household items" you usually have to provide in addition to the kit: Sugar Table salt Kosher salt Steel wool Balloons Plastic baggies Aluminum foil Lighters Clothespin Chalk 9-volt batteries Rubber bands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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