Chemistry Equipment List

Update: This eBay store has good prices on beakers, flasks,  and cylinders.  I have to remind myself that I don’t need any labware.

What do you need to teach Chemistry?  The American Chemical Society publishes these lists for middle school and high school Chemistry.  Here is another list from Flinn Scientific.  Here is a slideshow with the materials I used to create lab kits for my Co-op during COVID quarantine.  I buy wooden coffee stir sticks for flame tests and stirring chemicals at the grocery or buy a box of 1000 from Amazon.  We use cupcake papers as weigh paper.  These mini digital balances are fine.  We use a-tips for cotton swabs and craft sticks, or toothpicks to mix chemicals.  Home Science Tools sells metal spatulas, pH paper, reaction plates, (Paint palettes can substitute, too.  Check the dollar store.),   Glass beakers,  filter paper, 50 mL plastic graduated cylinders,, test tube sets, droppers, thermometers, and safety glasses. Even some of the best equipped, high school labs do not have  spectrophotometers or emission gas tubes.  You can scrounge clear cups, foam coffee cups, corks, funnels,  tweezers, rulers, and scissors.  We use tea candles, butane lighters, and hot plates as heat sources.  Alcohol burners are dangerous.  I avoided Bunsen burners even when I had them in a fully equipped lab.  I had large classes, sometimes with 40 students.  I used single burner hot plates as often as possible for safety issues.  Many families cannot afford Chemistry Lab sets. With rising inflation, and soaring gas prices, let’s be frugal about science tools and equipment.