Best or most important biology labs?

[Sarahmarie]

First time poster, here:  after spending many, many (many!) hours reading previous threads on these forums, I've finally chosen a textbook to use for my rising 9th grader's biology studies at home this year, Campbell's Concepts and Connections (8th edition).  I've also purchased three lab manuals in order to choose some labs to do (based on advice from previous threads, I'm thinking to do about 10 serious hands-on labs that will take a big time commitment, and another 10 or so that are a mix of less intensive 'one day' labs and some 'paper labs').  I don't want to (and can't afford to) use an online class or packaged lab curriculum.  This is for a student who may want to study biology in college and possibly even medicine eventually, but who also may have the opportunity to do another biology course at the local community college in 11th or 12th grade...so it needs to be 'serious' biology this year, but it's not a disaster if I miss something important.

 

That said, in all my reading of these forums I can't seem to find advice on *which* labs are the easiest to do at home, or the most important to cover, given that my time and money are limited-- what should I make sure we do this year?  The lab books I have on hand are Miller Levine Lab Manual A (purchased accidentally while I was still waffling about whether to use Miller Levine or Campbell), Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments, and Exploring Biology in the Laboratory.

 

Any advice from anyone who is a biologist or who has had a serious biology student would be greatly appreciated!  or if this has been covered before and you can just direct me to the right thread, that's good too :)  Thank you!

[daijobu]

 

 

Any advice from anyone who is a biologist or who has had a serious biology student would be greatly appreciated!  or if this has been covered before and you can just direct me to the right thread, that's good too :)  Thank you!

 

I am neither, but I'm going to throw out a few suggestions anyway, mostly cultivated from the book Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments.

 

I will recommend 2 products that we've had success with from Edvotek:  bacterial transformation and DNA electrophoresis.  Both of these kits are pricey and designed to be used in a classroom, so you can save money if you split the cost with another family.  But we've had success with both kits because they come with detailed lab descriptions and instructional videos.  

 

Before the year is out, I also plan to do a gram stain because it is commonly used in hospitals every day.  There are lots of instructional youtube videos on how to do this.  

 

I plan to grow different kinds of fungus and stain those as well.  

 

We will probably do some kind of pill bug behavior lab as well.

 

HTH!  

[foxbridgeacademy]

Here's a link to the PDF of the above mentioned Lab book.  I would think microscope labs with slide mounting and knowing how to do stains would be important, mostly for the experience (slides can always be viewed online too).  Field work would be the cheapest.  Things like population count, ecosystem and microcosm study. Some of the pollution labs are easy but can take time.  I would think if you didn't/don't plan to do them in Chemistry then the Acid/Base labs could be done.  Also doing some live cultures.  Agar can be $$ but I think I remember seeing where people used regular, from the store, gelatin to grow bacteria. You can buy antibiotics cheap online, they're for fish but would work for experiments.  

 

Also, you can get the Chemicals only for the lab book above for $137.   

 

HTH

[Reefgazer]

College biology instructor here, so I'll offer my opinion. I would look at the following labs as important: A biochemistry lab, an ecology lab, a photosynthesis Lab, a microscope lab, a cell respiration lab, a genetics lab, a dissection of a vertebrate and invertebrate (virtual or real, virtual is fine), a botany lab ( plant structure), an enzyme lab, a cell transport lab ( diffusion and osmosis), some type of evolution lab (that could include evaluating fossils or working with the Hardy Weinberg), a bacterial lab, mitosis lab, and meiosis lab. Some of these (mitosis, meiosis, genetics, and evolution) would be suitable to a dry paper lab.

Edited April 24, 2016 by reefgazer

[Loesje22000]

College biology instructor here, so I'll offer my opinion. I would look at the following labs as important: A biochemistry lab, an ecology lab, a photosynthesis Lab, a microscope lab, a cell respiration lab, a genetics lab, a dissection of a vertebrate and invertebrate (virtual or real, virtual is fine), a botany lab ( plant structure), an enzyme lab, a cell transport lab ( diffusion and osmosis), some type of evolution lab (that could include evaluating fossils or working with the Hardy Weinberg), a bacterial lab, mitosis lab, and meiosis lab. Some of these (mitosis, meiosis, genetics, and evolution) would be suitable to a dry paper lab.

 

 

Thanks!

 

DD loves Biology, is considering it to study in College and I dislike the subject with almost every cell in my body. ;)

I bought the labmanual for Miller & Levine and had no idea how to select, beside some 'fun and easy' stuff.

[SparklyUnicorn]

College biology instructor here, so I'll offer my opinion. I would look at the following labs as important: A biochemistry lab, an ecology lab, a photosynthesis Lab, a microscope lab, a cell respiration lab, a genetics lab, a dissection of a vertebrate and invertebrate (virtual or real, virtual is fine), a botany lab ( plant structure), an enzyme lab, a cell transport lab ( diffusion and osmosis), some type of evolution lab (that could include evaluating fossils or working with the Hardy Weinberg), a bacterial lab, mitosis lab, and meiosis lab. Some of these (mitosis, meiosis, genetics, and evolution) would be suitable to a dry paper lab.

 

I love you.... :laugh:

 

Do you know of any good kits that have all of that in one shot (or almost all of it)?

 

And do you have any thoughts on labs for other sciences?  I am planning to do integrated science for 9th and trying to pick a couple of must do labs for each area.  Although I sometimes wonder if I really need to overthink that, or if I should just pick some labs my kid would be interested in. 

[Sarahmarie]

College biology instructor here, so I'll offer my opinion. I would look at the following labs as important: A biochemistry lab, an ecology lab, a photosynthesis Lab, a microscope lab, a cell respiration lab, a genetics lab, a dissection of a vertebrate and invertebrate (virtual or real, virtual is fine), a botany lab ( plant structure), an enzyme lab, a cell transport lab ( diffusion and osmosis), some type of evolution lab (that could include evaluating fossils or working with the Hardy Weinberg), a bacterial lab, mitosis lab, and meiosis lab. Some of these (mitosis, meiosis, genetics, and evolution) would be suitable to a dry paper lab.

wow, that's a thorough list-- thank you! and it's good to hear that you think virtual dissections are ok, since I'm on the fence about whether to do real dissections at home.

[AK_Mom4]

We are using Miller Levine this year and purchased the QSL Biology kit for the labs as well as a microscope and a set of roars slides. DD prod many different slides as part of the labs, but it was helpful having the commercially prepared slides for some of the more difficult specimens.

 

The QSL kit is very complete and easy to use. DD is into the dissection labs now - frog parts, anyone?

[Reefgazer]

I don't know of any good kits, but that may just be because I don't use kits and tend to buy things separately to get exactly what I want. I am working on preparing a chemistry class now and I'm still tossing around chemistry lab ideas.

 

I love you.... :laugh:

 

Do you know of any good kits that have all of that in one shot (or almost all of it)?

 

And do you have any thoughts on labs for other sciences? I am planning to do integrated science for 9th and trying to pick a couple of must do labs for each area. Although I sometimes wonder if I really need to overthink that, or if I should just pick some labs my kid would be interested in.