Biology on a Budget

 I belong to a few science groups on social media.  Teachers frequently moan about their lack of resources to do labs.  Nonsense!  Yes, kits and models are nice.  But you can teach Biology on a budget.  The most expensive line item in my biology budget is for dissection specimens.  (Alright, we do a number of candy labs, which can run into some money.). Start with the labs described in the Exploring Creation with Biology from Apologia.  Apart from the dissection specimens and microscope slides, the Lab Supplies include household items, such as medicine droppers, or grocery store supplies, such as split peas and meat tenderizer for the DNA lab.  Here are several labs apart from the experiments in the Apologia textbook which do not require expensive equipment.

Ecology: The Lynx eats the Hare, Mark and Recapture, Create a Food Web, Collect and Identify Leaves, Rainforest Biodiversity, and Bottle Biology.

Cells: Cell Membrane Bubble Lab, Peroxisomes Lab, Make Cell Models, Gummy Bear Osmosis, Cell Size Lab (with different sized boxes to make calculations and comparisons), and Cell Size.

Macromolecules: Food Tests, DIY Molecules, Clay Molecules, and Biomolecules.  Use clay molecules you make yourself.

See?  You are well on your way to create a robust Biology class on a budget.