Science TBC

School science laboratories seem to always be designed by accountants. They are generally poorly laid out and ill-equipped to serve their purpose.I have taught in many of these disasters and have designed other labs that have been a pleasure to teach in.

It would be nice if price was not a constraining factor in all school building design, but it is.The best way to approach the design of your lab is from the stand-point of what you need, then pare it down if the total cost is over-budget.

A school laboratory is usually larger than the average classroom. This is because it may have 35 students moving around it, flames from Bunsen burners, sinks, electrical equipment and glassware all at the same time, as well as writing materials, computers and boards. The whole setup sounds impossible.

Ideally you need to separate student writing areas from student experimental areas. The easiest way to do this is to have sinks, electrical outlets and workbenches around the three sides of the room. Cupboards for glassware and electrical equipment will slot underneath these workbenches. There needs to be a clear walkway all around the room in front of these workbenches, so that students can move about safely. The fouth side of the room will be where the board and teacher’s bench are.

You will need fume hoods, or fume cupboards, with extraction facilities to the outside. School fume hoods are not used very often, because the chemicals used in school labs are not aprticularly noxious. Fume hoods are best situated on the wall with the board and the teacher’s area. Using a fume hood with a class is largely impractical because of the logistics issues involved with 35 students wanting to use one or two small spaces at the same time. These areas will be used infrequently and only briefly.

You will also need desks or benches for students to sit at to write at and for non-practical lessons. These workbenches will are best situated about five feet away from the perimeter work benches. The exact arrangement of these workspaces will depend on the dimensions of your laboratory.

A fan arrangement works well, with the desks end on to where the taecher stands. Other possibilities include joined groups of desks and desks tee-ed off the teacher’s desk. Groups of desks make for more chatter amongst your students.

If you are installing an LCD projector, then consider mounting it from the ceiling where it projects to the board at the front.

That gives you your perfect school laboratory. You will almost certainly be overbudget at this point. How can you reduce the cost?

* Cut the number of sinks – A large cost saving, but disastrous in terms of increasing student movement during experimental work. Consider long sinks at the back of the worktop though.
* Cut the number of electrical outlets – Small savings
* Cut the number of cupboards – Large savings possible, but increases student movement around the laboratory, and where do you put all the equipment?
* Have just one fume-hood – Large savings, and you will rarely use it anyway.

These days there is there is a lot buzz about the world going green and preserving the environment. Well, I think that all of you might be reading something or the other about “environment and ecology” in newspaper, magazines or over the internet. So, let me throw light on this topic.

Environmental Science is the scientific study of the ways in which biological, physical and chemical components of the environment interact and the relations between them. Environmental science and ecology are overlapped but different science disciplines.

Environmental science and ecology are overlapped but different science disciplines. Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with their environments, including relationship with other organisms. Environmental science is multidisciplinary in nature and provides a broad area of study of environmental systems integrating both biological and physical concepts with an interdisciplinary approach.

Components of Environmental Science:

Atmospheric Sciences examine the phenomenology of the Earth’s gaseous outer layer with emphasis upon interrelation to other systems. Atmospheric sciences comprise meteorological studies, greenhouse gas phenomena, and atmospheric dispersion modeling of airborne contaminants, noise pollution, and even light pollution.

Ecology studies typically analyze the dynamics of biological populations and some aspect of their environment.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science, teams of professionals commonly work together to conduct environmental research or to produce Environmental Impact Statements. Environmental science encompasses issues such as climate change, conservation, biodiversity, water quality, groundwater contamination, soil contamination, and use of natural resources, waste management, sustainable development, disaster reduction, air pollution, and noise pollution.

Geosciences include environmental geology, environmental soil science, volcanic phenomena and evolution of the Earth’s crust. In some classification systems it can also embrace hydrology including oceanography.

Well, above is a brief overview about Environmental Science and its’ machinery. Having a sound knowledge about our environment will certainly help us to protect Nature, which is the “Gift of God” to mankind.

Children are natural scientists, always discovering and absorbing new things. Parents can help their children by supplying them with the appropriate science supplies so that they can make a better sense of what they see in the world. Science is trying to explain what you see. Parental involvement in anything; be it sports; school supplies or some hobby is the real key to success for every child. When education supplies are involved a child will set off in new directions with an exceptional level of confidence.

Encourage Them

Children are full of questions. Life is a library of new information for them to go through a day without wondering about something. You should not only be receptive to their questions at all times, but you should go as far as to encourage them to ask. Taking your child seriously and listening with respect is crucial to learning.

No Need to Be a Scientist

Parents often have the false notion that they need to be a science expert themselves, or have answers to all of their child’s questions. The fact is, it is constructive to make the science subject easier and interesting with the science supplies. There are different kinds of supplies available on the market for the better understanding of the wonderful subject. These are Science Boards, Science Equipment, Life Science, Human Anatomy, Health & Nutrition, Microscopes & Magnifiers, Nature Studies, Environment & Weather, Charts, Lab Equipment, Optics & Light, Slide Strips, Project Boards, Science Kits, Space Science and Science Fairs & Experiments. Science is all about experimentation and discovery. And, these supplies will demonstrate the value of learning new things.

Science is not that hard, as perceived

Another biggest yet false notion about science is that it is difficult. The idea of science often conjures up images of beakers, test tubes and burners. True, science can get complex at higher levels, but the bottom line is that science is an art of discovering what you don’t know already. Learning how to find answers to interesting questions is what science is all about.

It is never too late

Science is everywhere. The most useful tool for beginning science is supplying your children with essential science supplies.

It is a fun to participate in your child science education. You do not necessarily have to be a scientist, or have lots of facts in your head. All you need is a love of invention and exploration. Show your child that it is good to be curious and to ask questions. You might even rediscover a few wonderful things for yourself.

Lemon batteries that light up an LED, Electric motor, Circuits that are inductively coupled and the display of a human gene are all part of the Science Exhibition held at St Sophias Girls High School. The chief guest at the exhibition was the Minister for Science and Technology who was impressed with the way the exhibition was conducted. In an interview by a student journalist to what he liked about the exhibition, his answer was I cant believe the kind of inventions the children can come up with. Weve got budding scientists out here and I intend sponsoring an amount to encourage all our young scientists and the school for putting up a wonderful show.

The science teacher said that the students had worked hard over the entire month trying to research on the topics assigned to them. A Science exhibition is a display of the best of scientific inventions in which students get a better scope to exhibit their intelligence, depth of knowledge and also get the chance to know more about their zone of interest. With the help of such exhibitions, students get to know if science is really a suitable subject for them or not. They also get to know of the area of interest. In science exhibitions, students are given the task to work on different projects that are based on science. They make their projects and make their presentations through power point or while others learn up the description and explain it verbally.

They are given marks with the help of which they are promoted for the next level of the exhibition which can be of the district, state or national level. In India, every year February 28th is observed as the National Science Day and it has proved to be a good opportunity for different schools to support science education and its communication in the country which coincides with Sir C.V Ramans birthday. In 1930, Sir C.V. was honored with noble prize for physics for discovering the Raman Effect. After the country got its independence, the Government of India appointed him as the first National Professor. Science day is celebrated every year with a motive that everybody should remember C. V. Ramans contribution to the country and also as a way of paying respect and honor to the great soul. Science and technology have become one of the most important pillars of the economy of the country.

Technology has made changes in the business models of the companies throughout the world. The concept of science exhibitions has been imbibed from the European education pattern and their culture. In almost every school, science exhibitions are held every year or even half yearly. Such exhibitions are organized by the schools just to encourage the students for research work and make them enthusiastic. In such exhibitions, the work of the teachers is to collect all the names of the students who are interested in participating in it and will make a project that is based on science and technology. Such exhibitions provide the students with a great platform to exhibit their creative work. It gives the children a feeling to involve themselves more in such projects and also gives them the courage to make presentations of their projects.

Forensic Science is one of the most talked about streams in science sectors. Shows like Medical detectives, crime files and others have already shown how forensic science has been the key in solving the most riddling crime scenes. For being so different in work fashion, forensic science can be termed as the most glamorous and challenging streams. However, one can not deny that though being very challenging; forensic science jobs are really high paying. Also, people in this job enjoy a distinct gravity in terms of positions that is somewhat not possible in other streams.
Forensic Science professional are recruited in the followings: Police, Private research and analysis organizations, judiciary, etc.
Attributes required for forensic science jobs: Sharp minded, ability to find minutest details, present observations and researches with loads of proof. Since, these professionals’ words play major in solving crime cases; they must be flawless at their skill.