Science: Basic Lab Supplies

Our home is filled with budding mad scientists, so a well stocked science lab is essential. I’ve spent more money on that than on all our other curriculum combined! We already owned a microscope and slide making equipment. If I was starting from scratch, I’d splurge for a higher end microscope with the ability to display to a laptop. My only really decadent lab purchase was a Physics kit from Quality Science Labs. It’s put together specifically for an AP course, but there are also cross references to most common homeschool curriculums. We did all of the labs during our physics unit last spring. This year, we are redoing some of the labs and using the data for practicing real applications in Algebra I.

We also have a well stocked electronics box. Much of this came in the physics lab kit. The rest came from Radio Shack or Lowe's Hardware’s hobby section. By the way – if you haven’t found it, ask about those hidden items next time you’re at Lowe’s. The department manager took me on a wonderful tour of what was available. Need a few yards of solid copper wire? Look in the picture wire area. Need small solid metal bars for a density experiment? Look in the hobby drawer in the hardware section. And, their selection of odd shaped balsam wood was just astounding.

Finally, we needed a supply of measuring tools. Everything pictured here came from Amazon.  I didn’t invest in a triple arm balance because the cheaper ones are rarely accurate. For the money, the digital scales do a great job.

There are other odds and ends we always seem to be needing, but for the most part, we’re covered for any experiment my scientist thinks up.