thinking ahead: science for an experiments wimp

[hsingscrapper]

Still waiting to hear on a blessing and still thinking ahead

 

I am not a fan of experiments, or rather the accompanying mess, and would like a science program where he doesn't *have* to do experiments to understand the concept.

 

It's not just the mess but the cost of supplies.

 

Any ideas? (I know. I'm a sissy.)

[regentrude]

Not sure what you consider "experiments". If he wants to go to college, he will need one or several lab sciences for high school.

 

The least messy labs ( no spills, no liquids or powders), and the cheapest, are physics labs; you can do a lot with common household items, because the rigor is in the analysis, not in complicated equipment.

[hsingscrapper]

But physics is only one lab science. (The most fun for me as a teen)

 

I'm gonna have to suck it up, aren't I?

[Jean in Newcastle]

But physics is only one lab science. (The most fun for me as a teen)

 

I'm gonna have to suck it up, aren't I?

 

If you want him to have a high school level class, then yes. But high school kids are perfectly capable of getting out supplies, using them and then cleaning up after themselves.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

But physics is only one lab science. (The most fun for me as a teen)

 

I'm gonna have to suck it up, aren't I?

 

Yep. But it's not really any messier than cooking is. And you probably know that healthy home cooking has lots of advantages to eating out every day.

 

And I agree with Jean that most of the mess should be cleaned up by the student.

 

FWIW, one of my friends did bio labs in the garage on folding tables.

[MomsintheGarden]

For Chem labs, you could try one of the Thames and Kosmos Microchem kits from Home Science Tools. T&K has a Physics kit, too. Bio labs are messier, but you could outsource just the labs, use the DIVE CD for the dissections, or buy kits for certain things from HST.

 

I was kind of dreading buying science supplies for this year, but ended up having a blast. There is so much cool stuff out there! Try it; you may change your mind. :)

[In The Great White North]

There are lots of chemistry experiments that can be done with normal household supplies (give it its chemical name and then it seems more like a lab than like cooking :D.)

 

The make-your-own cleaning supplies are all chemistry labs also.

 

However, the more "normal" equipment you use, as opposed to lab glassware, the less it will feel like a real lab.

 

And I agree with Jean that most of the mess should be cleaned up by the student.

 

:iagree: All of the mess, actually.