Yr 13 went today, yr 11 are gone and Yr 12 are on study week until mid June. It is quieter but busy as ever. Three workshadowers to see to this week, a desparately needed clear out and tidy up and reorganising of the prep rooms and worksheet filing cabinets, ordering new stock, and so on. We found a couple of hours last week to visit a school about 45mins away who are no longer doing A levels and had surplus equipment. It's always interesting visiting other schools and their science technicians and it was a very pleasant visit. We even had a chance to say hello to the sea before leaving. Most of the equipment was pretty old and not used anymore but there some useful rectifying power packs and something I've always wanted - a Kipp's Apparatus. Okay I know it truly old fashioned but I love the way it works - if you close off the gas exit, the gas pushes the liquid reactant down into the lower chamber and back up the inner tube of the upper open chamber and the reaction is halted.. In the old days long ago, it was used to have a ready supply of hydrogen sulphide gas and hydrogen but no way Jose these days! I've set it up today with large limestone chips and bench hydrochloric acid so we can carbon dioxide on tap. It was immediately borrowed by a teacher to show his Yr 8 how effectively a little CO2 puts out candles. I don't know where we're going to store it yet but I shall definitely have it featuring on the Stepping Stones course!
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