Biology Lab Questions/Recommendations

[kanagnostos]

Ds13 is grade 8/9. We're using Miller/Levine macaw edition for biology. We have the virtual lab package that came with the interactive digital path, but I'm exploring options for live biology labs to go along with this curriculum just in case the virtual labs are not interesting for him. Two in particular that I'm really considering are LabPaq and Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments...not that I wouldn't consider others. I'm in the process of researching them and would like to get the hive's opinion. Can anyone compare/contrast or make any recommendations?

 

I'm reading through the Illustrated Guide right now, but I'm deep in microscope territory (which is making my head spin). And LabPaq lists the experiments but not much else. Are these similar programs...or very different? In terms of cost, they seem similar assuming I buy the kit  from Home Scientist. (Of course, then there's the microscope...which is an entirely different thread I could start :lol: )

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks!

Katie

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I will be ordering our LabPaq this week, I can't give you a review because this is my first time. We already have a microscope that we've used quite a bit.

[Parrothead]

We start on Monday with the illustrated guide. After you get the microscope figured out the rest seems like it will be easy.

[livetoread]

FYI

I just ordered the microscope Robert Thompson recommended in the Illustrated Guide, the National Optical 131-CLED. It's on amazon new for $161 plus free shipping. Anywhere else, it's around $250. I won't get it til the middle to end of Sept. but at that price, I'm willing to wait. Fingers crossed they won't cancel the order.

[klmama]

If high cost is preventing you from buying a microscope, you might consider this one:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q768K8/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it seems to be a decent microscope.  The mechanical stage is great!  The biggest drawbacks we've found are that there's no storage case for the parts not in use at the time and there's no on/off switch for the light source.  Recent Amazon reviews have been good, with just a few complaints about things that don't bother us.  Most were written before modifications to the light (it's LED now), so you'll want to sort them by newest first.

 

 

 

[kroe1]

I don't think I would waste money on slides and microscope work if you don't have the money for a microscope.  All slides can be easily found on YouTube or Google images, usually in much better shape than what we can do at home with a cheap microscope.  If you want your DS just to know how to use one, the library, hospital, or local college lab might let him have a go at one.

 

I would spend money on the more hands on parts of biology like dissections, respiration, etc.  Nothing replaces the actual tactile experience.

 

If I wanted the best bang for the buck, I would just choose the more hands on experiments and order small kits from HomeScienceTools or some such. 

 

 

[kanagnostos]

I would spend money on the more hands on parts of biology like dissections, respiration, etc.  Nothing replaces the actual tactile experience.

 

Exactly! So which program do you feel has more hands-on types of labs? Some seem to lean more heavily toward microscopy and others less so.

[freesia]

We won't be doing Miller Levine until next year,but this is what I'm looking at:

http://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/biology-labs/qsl-biology-lab-kit/

[kroe1]

Exactly! So which program do you feel has more hands-on types of labs? Some seem to lean more heavily toward microscopy and others less so.

 

 Sorry, I'm not familiar with the two labs you mentioned.  We are die hard A Beka fans when it comes to science.  Here is a condensed version of the labs we have planned next year:

 

1.  Collecting, preserving, and mounting flowering plants

2.  Dissecting flowers.  (We did this before in elementary, so I may skip it.)

3.  Nerve conduction studies.

4.  Blood flow calculations, pressure, etc.

5.  Heart dissection

6.  Fetal Pig dissection

7.  Frog dissection (I have a fake one.)

8.  Perch dissection

9.  Grasshopper dissection

10.Insect identification, classification

11.Crayfish dissection

12.Starfish dissection

13.Earthworm dissection

14.Genetics and DNA models

 

Here are the labs which require a microscope or stereoscope that we will do.  We just happen to have a very good digital one.  Nonetheless, most of the time I find better examples surfing the internet:

 

1.  Leaf structure

2.  Algae

3.  Histology slides

4.  Pathology of disease

5.  Skin slides

6.  Single celled animals

 

Finally, if you do end up getting the urge for a microscope, consider a good stereoscope instead.  All high school labs can be done on a stereoscope, plus it is better used in the elementary years when things to look at are more 3 dimensional. 

[StephanieZ]

FWIW, modern biology labs really de-emphasize dissections in favor of other labs. I, personally, think that dissection labs are rather outdated. Current biology really focuses more on non-anatomy topics (ecology, microbiology, biochem, etc.)

 

I used the Illustrated Guide last year. We had some good experiences, but it is pretty awkward to use if you are at all time constrained for each lab, as predicting how long each lab will take is very hard, and some labs are virtually impossible to simply set aside and pick up again the next week, as you might need to spend 90 min prepping stuff, then if you don't get the whole lab done, you'd have to repeat that 90 min the next time. I had a three hour period set aside weekly, and there were several times when we had to stop at the three hour mark and lost a lot of ground by doing that. Some weeks, we were able to run over to 4 or even 5 hours, but that is hard to do, especially since I had a third student (not my kid) who was joining us and one or the other of us often had somewhere else we needed to be after our 3 hour lab session. 

 

That said, even with 30 three hour sessions, we still didn't cover many of the labs in the book, so you can surely pick and choose which labs to do.

 

Also, I am a grad-school trained biologist, and so I have tons of lab experience. If I were inexperienced in lab work, I think the IGHBE would have been overwhelming to me.

 

IGHBE has almost no guidance on writing up experiments. I had hoped/planned to have the kids keep a proper lab notebook and do regular formal write ups, but the experiments were way too time consuming to add that as well. So, I ended up having them keep informal lab notebooks, answer the questions, and that was it most weeks. At the end of the year, I did squeeze in ONE formal lab report, but that was because I was utterly determined to do so. 

 

This year, I've chosen LabPaq for our Physics. We just did the first lab this week, and I am excited about how much the kids will learn about doing lab write-ups, using Excel, etc. Our first lab fit neatly in the three hours I'd set aside, even including doing the full write up on Excel, Word, etc. The LabPaq lab manual is much easier to use the the IHG was for Biology. If this year goes well with Physics, I'll use a LabPaq next time I do Biology. 

 

I am not sorry I used IGHBE, but I am glad I am using something easier to manage this year, and I definitely think the experience writing up experiments is also important at some point in the high school science career, so one way or another, I think it is advisable to do a lab section at some point with an emphasis on that.

[kanagnostos]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I did end up purchasing a microscope because ds expressed interest in it. He also wants to "grow things." :) 

 

I still haven't decided what lab program/package to go with, though. I do know that the LabPaq kit comes with its own portable microscope, so if we end up going with that we'll be more than covered in the microscope department.

 

Still researching so if anyone has more tips/advice/favorite biology labs, I'm all ears!