Teaching High School Science

Building a Home Science Lab: A Guide for High School Science Homeschoolers

• Kesha "Doc" Williams • Episode 23

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Setting up an at-home science lab doesn’t have to be overwhelming—or expensive. Whether your teen is extracting DNA in biology, building circuits in physics, or testing reaction rates in chemistry, having the right tools can make science both accessible and exciting.


What We'll Cover:

  • The must-have essentials every at-home lab needs.
  • Subject-specific tools for biology, chemistry, and physics.
  • Creative DIY hacks to build ramps, circuits, and more with simple supplies.
  • Tips for staying organized and making the most of your space.
  • How to use virtual labs to fill in the gaps.

🔬 Featured Tools & Resources:

Listen now for a complete guide, including practical shopping tips, easy-to-follow advice, and creative ways to make science come alive in your homeschool.

👉 Bonus: Learn how my self-paced Chemistry course includes engaging virtual labs to support your teen’s learning!

Thanks for tuning in!

For more insightful discussions and resources on science education, visit my website at thesciencementor.com.

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Are you looking for bite-sized science tutorials to use with your students or for a refresher for yourself? Visit my YouTube Channel.

Let's continue the conversation and explore the wonders of science together!


Speaker 1:

Imagine your teen is extracting DNA and biology, building circuits in physics or testing reaction rates in chemistry all with the tools you can easily set up at home. Today I'm walking you through everything the must-have essentials, specific subject tools and even some DIY hacks to make it all work. By the end of this episode, you'll have a plan, a shopping list and the confidence to bring science to life in your home without breaking the bank or taking over your entire house. Let's dive in. Welcome to Teaching High School Science. I'm your host, doc, a former biochemist, turned high school science teacher and private tutor. Whether you're homeschooling your team through high school science or teaching online, join me as I share tips and strategies I've learned over the years for at-home and online labs and activities, breaking down complex concepts and structuring learning in a way that makes sense. Now let's dive into today's topics. Let's start with the foundation. So here is a list of those must-have essentials that work across all subject areas. The first thing I'm going to start with is safety. So for your safety gear, you want to have some type of protective eyewear or safety goggles, gloves and an apron. When I say apron, I don't mean the classical apron unless that's something you want to get, but it can be like maybe an old t-shirt, but something that is going to protect their clothes if they're doing a type of lab that will stain their clothes. Another thing or set of tools would be measuring tools A good ruler or metric stick Let me back up a little bit because everything that we measure need to be in the metric system, so making sure that your measuring tools have metric units is going to be important. So, again, that good ruler, a metric stick, measuring cups, spoons, a digital scale that measures in grams, is going to be very important for those precise measurements, especially in chemistry. Having a stopwatch is going to be important, not just for timing things like reaction rates or motion but also for biology. There are different types of experiments or investigations students will do, especially when we're talking about metabolism, and this stopwatch can be the one that they use in their phone. Another precision tool that's needed, especially in biology and chemistry, are droppers and pipettes. These things will be essential for those precise liquid measurements that we need for those experiments A notebook, a dedicated lab notebook for recording observations, diagramming, writing down data, calculations and conclusions, where they can look at that notebook, go back over all of the information and then start piecing together their understanding of the concepts based on what they saw or observed in the labs. And for odds and ends, balloons and strings. I use balloons in all subject areas, for example, with biology demonstrating how the diaphragm works, in chemistry demonstrating the gas laws and in physics demonstrating Newton's laws of motion. And next we need something to organize it. You want something to organize everything so that it's easy to find, clearly labeled, and it keeps those like things together so that your students will be able to go to them and it reduces stress and mess.

Speaker 1:

Now let's move into subject-specific equipment, starting with biology. One of the first and most important equipments you can get in biology is a microscope, and this microscope is something that you can begin using with your student in early, early ages, helping them just taking a drop of pond water and looking at everything that moves in that water, diagramming different things that they see on a very small magnified level. Now shopping for a microscope is a whole nother story, and that can be very overwhelming with the amount of different microscopes and different brands that are out there. So this brand may help to start that search, and it is Amscope For beginners, amscope M150C. It is affordable and it's great for those homeschool labs and for more advanced would be Emscope T490B. Now that one has a higher magnification, it's a bit more durable, which means it's a bit more expensive. Both of these are on Amazon and I would recommend looking at these, looking at those specs, and it can help guide you in your search for the best microscope for your team.

Speaker 1:

The next equipment in biology are slides and stains. I recommend a beginner slide kit with prepared in blank slides. Now, third thing I recommend if this is something that you want to have part of your biology curriculum is a basic dissection kit with scaffolds, forceps, scissors and specimen trays. Now, dissection is not just for animals, but we also dissect plants so that they can make that connection between what is written in text and what is actually in real life. So next is chemistry, and in chemistry we have quite a bit of glassware that you would want to have available Beakers, test tubes, graduated cylinders and Erlenmeyer flasks tubes, graduated cylinders and Erlenmeyer flasks. Another thing that you want to have will be some type of electric hot plate or maybe a little candle, if you don't want to get a Bonson burner, because several reactions in chemistry will need the addition of heat and chemicals that you want to have on hand can be just regular household items like baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and if you want to add a few more chemicals that are safe for home, then I would say, look into those beginner-friendly kits, because they have a bit more advanced experiments and chemicals already packaged in there for you.

Speaker 1:

Now for physics. A lot of the tools that I use for physics I get from Amazon or my local hardware store. For motion, I use ramps and the foam insulated piping. So ramps, I use wood boards or plastic boards that I can get cut up from the hardware store, and the insulated piping I'm specifically talking about the black foam piping. I cut that in half for some experiments, I leave it whole for others. It's flexible, it helps my students to see the conversion between potential and kinetic energy and it's great for controlling the role of the ball or the marble in your experiments, trust me. Now, what I use for the electricity units will be alligator clips and copper wiring, which is essential for making those simple circuits, battery holders that make it easy to attach the alligator clips and, of course, batteries, like AA batteries or even AAA batteries, and you can get the battery holders that are two battery holders or four battery holders from hardwood stores or Amazon Also include little light bulbs or little buzzers. The buzzers just take it to a whole new level of fun. And don't forget your multimeter to measure voltage and current, and this helps your teen understand the flow of electricity through the circuit. A few other things you want to have for physics would be weights Now for weights you can use washers. Would be weights Now for weights you can use washers, coins, to name a few. But whatever you use, you definitely want to get the exact mass in grams, using the digital scale in the essential tools, a spring scale to use to measure force, and also some type of cars, whether it's Hot Wheel cars, a cart car, but something that they can attach the coins or washers to to vary the mass during those experiments.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about organizing your at-home lab. You want to find a designated space. Choose a corner, a folding table or even a portable cart. Here consistency is key. And you want to sort the supplies by subject. If you have multiple grade levels in your home, make sure that each subject area or each grade level have their own supplies. This cuts down confusion and it keeps everything nice and organized so that your kiddos can find what they need when they need it, and also create an inventory. Have a spreadsheet or a simple checklist that track down what you have, what has been used and what you may need to replenish. This is really helpful for consumables such as vinegar or baking soda that can be used up easily, but you don't really realize that it's used up until you need it. And don't forget your cleaning supplies in your organization areas, such as cleaning wipes and a small trash can for those quick cleanups. And, of course, I would not be a science teacher if I did not say make sure you have a designated safety station in what area that you choose to organize for your at-home lab. Let this bin be where your safety goggles, your gloves and any protective gear that you want your student to wear is located. Again, consistency is key making sure that everything is where they can get to it easily when they need it. And by creating a consistent, organized area, you'll save time, reduce frustration and create an inviting space for your students to go and explore science.

Speaker 1:

And do not forget about virtual labs. There are going to be several times when you will need an investigation or an experiment to help your student make that concrete connection to an abstract concept, but it will not be feasible to do at an at-home lab. This is where virtual simulations and labs are beautiful. In fact, there is a virtual simulation that can be turned into a lab for just about every concept that I teach, and furthermore, they are perfect for those experiments that require specialized equipment or materials that you just can't easily replicate at home, for example, using FET labs to simulate collisions or using chem collectives to simulate acid-based titrations. And in that case, it's not just about the acid-base titration but the type of equipment that they will use in an actual chemistry lab, if that is a field that they're planning on going into. So setting up a science lab at home doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. With the right tools, a bit of creativity, a solid organization plan, you can create a space where your teen will explore, experiment and hopefully fall in love with science.

Speaker 1:

But if all of this is sounding like a little bit too much, or you don't have time but you want your teen to have that chemistry or physics credit, check out my self-paced chemistry course, which is launching this January, or check out my group live chemistry and physics classes, both of which are offered through our school. If you found this January or check out my group live chemistry and physics classes, both of which are offered throughout school, if you found this helpful, please share it with a fellow homeschool parent. Or if you have ideas that you want to share that I did not cover here, please let me know. Let me know if you have any questions, ideas or other experiences that you'd like to share. Head on over to my podcast page, which you can access by visiting my website at thesciencementorcom. Then select podcast from the menu and subscribe now to the Teaching High School Science podcast for your regular dose of motivation and just-in-time science ideas, and together let's make high school science a journey of exploration and achievement. Until next time, remember, curiosity leads to endless possibilities.