Since students and faculty should both be out of the lab and taking a well-deserved rest over break time, this provides an excellent opportunity for faculty to upgrade their existing facilities. You may want to look into the possibility of some changes even if nothing seems too out of place because vacations provide a rare chance to do this kind of work.

Sanitize the Area

Clean the lab from top to bottom if at all possible. Since these rooms tend to be used almost constantly throughout the school year, custodians seldom get the opportunity to give them a full cleaning. If there’s anything wrong with flooring or ceiling tiles, then this is an excellent time to replace those as well.

Check the Safety Gear

Check to ensure that every piece of safety gear is in its proper place and is marked to help people find it in the case of an accident. Pressurizing fire extinguishers and test firing the eyewash stations is a great way to be certain that these devices will work if anything were to happen.

Rearrange the Furniture

Try rearranging the furniture and desk layouts to create extra space in the classroom. This shouldn’t cost anything, but it can help to build an environment that’s more conducive to learning. Classes that regularly ask students to get into their groups will want to try out special seating arrangements to make this easier.

Install New Countertops and Sinks

Installing new laboratory countertops is another great way to improve the physical arrangement of a high school science room. Lab countertops and sinks have changed considerably in the past few years. Newer models should hold up to abuse more than  previous ones did, which means this improvement could eventually pay for itself.

Audit the Inventory

Perform a complete equipment inventory to find out if any devices need to be replaced. Biology students are often rough on microscopes and lab glass has a tendency to get broken, but in both of these cases, the damage might not be obvious for quite some time.

Plan the Curriculum

As soon as you know what pieces of equipment you have, take time to do some science education curriculum planning to make sure that the lab is actually up to current standards. There’s a good chance that some additional pieces of equipment will have to be added in order to ensure that the facility adheres to all relevant rules.

Utilize Virtual Reality

Incorporating virtual reality simulations into a classroom might sound gimmicky, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s a cost-effective way to renovate a science lab without having to invest in new equipment. Rather than trying to get a number of expensive new tools, see if there’s any simulation software that leverages existing personal computers in your lab so you can breathe life into some of those old machines.

Hang Posters

Tack up any posters that might be pulling away from the wall and see if there are any information graphics that previous educators never put up. Chemistry labs are often given periodic tables and other materials when they receive shipments of classroom kits, but these are often neglected in spite of how useful they are.

Published by: Nelly Chavez