New science lab

By Rob, March 6, 2009 12:30 pm

I should be allocated resources for a new science lab in this financial year.  I had some designs done last year (before we ran out of money) and I’m having doubts about these plans.  They seem a little traditional and don’t reflect many modern teaching techniques.  As a special school we have pupils with a wide range of abilities – from P levels to GCSE grade C.  All will be taught in the same room.   The room must also
  • provide ICT access for 5+ pupils ( at the moment hard wired desktop PCs)
  • have all seating at same level (cut down on the amount of furniture we have at the moment)
  • provide good visibility of ALL pupils during practical work

This is the lab I have at the moment.

My science lab

The leading design last year looked like this (two rows of benches, PCs down side)

I’ve since seen rooms like the one below which seems to facilitate modern teaching styles as well as traditional ones
 
What would you do?  What sort of lab would you prefer?  What should a modern lab look like?

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categories Science Teaching | tags ,

  • Thank you to those who gave feedback through here, PM (and even on twitter!).


    Summary of points made to date:



    * Floor - problems with stool marks on floor (I have this already - bring back wooden stools!)

    * Avoid hexagonal benches

    * Honeycomb/hexagons are good for collaboration

    * Services around the edge (although with the ability to see pupils during practicals)

    * Modern pod type designs don't have enough space and teachers don't like them

    * Open space for doing some practicals - esp physics

    * Check location of gas taps/plugs etc so they actually work



    Any one thought of anything missing from the list? Especially with regard to the layout of the furniture
  • Tre
    I'll find some pictures of our lab, it's in a new centre (opened 2007) and we have a set of three honeycombs that meet up with straight benches, the benches are irritating, but the honeycombs are excellent for collaborative work and lab work. You can fit six students around one honeycomb so they're good for space. I'll take some photo's tomorrow and you can get the general idea here: http://www.haringey6.ac.uk/pages/tour.asp room 18. It looks a lot nicer now.
  • I teach HS physics (15-17yo), so we do projectile motion, momentum conservation, and Newton's laws labs that require meters worth of space. For example, tomorrow one of my classes will be doing a momentum conservation lab that requires setting up a pair of 'exploding' carts and testing their speeds with differing mass loads. Each lab group needs two meters for the carts to travel through, plus space on either side for the students to maneuver.
  • I don't have a great deal of space at the moment - just space to swing a wiimote in front of the whiteboard!


    As long as I've got room to talk and demo at the front I think I'll be ok.



    Do you do many activities that require a lot of open space? What would you recommend from personal experience?



    Thanks for your input so far :-)
  • I gather you're not going to be doing any lab activities that require a great deal of open space in this room.:-)
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