Like all public schools in our city, our students have a dress code. Why? Because when students dress like educated citizens, they behave like educated citizens.
Recently, I have decided that the same thing is true for the glassware in our school's science laboratory: when we use real science glassware, we behave like real scientists of the world!
All year long, we have performed our science experiments with a ragtag assortment of beakers and graduated cylinders, most of them chipped, plastic, or encrusted with debris from decades of use. To fill the gaps in our science supplies closet, we have even used mason jars to conduct our inquiries. The time has come to look, and act, like real scientists (which we are)!
My Project
Science laboratory inquiries are all about student scientists exploring textbook theories hands-on, with authentic tools to illuminate the way properly. Old mayonnaise and jam jars are just fine for collecting tadpoles, but chemistry, like our students, must be exact.
Middle school is way to late for students to first use authentic science glassware.
To become comfortable and proficient with these tools, our students need exposure in grades K-5, as well.
We are, all of us, only as good as our tools. This project is shooting for the moon, by seeking-out the best science glassware for the money, and placing it squarely into the hands of our youngest student scientists!
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