Universal Science toolkit
You can do great science with kitchen supplies and simple equipment. But, if you need twenty durable sets of equipment for a whole class, you may want to invest in some basic and relatively inexpensive items which will give you a large range of options. The Universal Science Toolkit (UST) is designed for flexible use in grades K-5 and is meant to supplement and complement curriculum, not replace it. The UST is divided into two lists. One list requires locating, budgeting, and ordering equipment from suppliers. The other list covers simple household items which are often on hand in a typical elementary classroom and are available for science activities. The navigation bar has sample activities which highlight the uses of the toolkit in teaching the measurement of distance, volume, mass, time , and temperature.
What items made the list?
The UST reflects my philosophy that inquiry in science involves asking good questions based on good observations. Students begin their careers as subjective interpreters of what they observe, cataloging what they learn according to usefulness and relevance to their experience. With a little training, students become more organized observers and the questions beg for quantitative answers. The UST provides basic equipment for collecting data about length, mass, volume, time, and temperature. Adding spring scales provides for simple force testing. With a very inexpensive hand lens and a paper cup, students can make a good microscope. Adding a mini-bulb light source teaches a simple circuit and enhances the microscope. Each item in the kit can be used to add to another item to collect data, do an experiment, or enhance an observation.
How expensive is the kit?
The cost of the kits is based on a student to equipment ratio of 2:1. I’ve found that groups of three or more result in one student being left out and solos often race ahead or get lost in directions. A few spares are helpful if you are sharing supplies with other teachers, and larger classes will require an adjustment in supplies. At this writing, balances, gram masses, appropriate stopwatches and good thermometers are the most expensive elements of the kit. These items should last many years with modest care and provide good quality. Almost all of the other supplies can be purchased inexpensively through suppliers or at the supermarket. A spreadsheet with 2007 costs is included as an appendix, and a list of suppliers is also attached. ‘Workarounds’ are discussed where appropriate and possible. Early primary grade teachers might not need full class sets of some items, and upper elementary teachers might supplement with weather instruments or more expensive microscopes which would alter the total cost of the kit.