APES Lab Supplies Part 1: Essential Labs

A question new AP® Environmental Science teachers ask is “What supplies do I need?” or “What kits should I buy?” This post will go over basic APES lab supplies.

Kits are a great way to start and can help many new AP® teachers, but aren’t necessary if you don’t have the funds. Most labs can be sourced more cheaply by ordering individual items.

APES lab supplies can be cheap or expensive.  What you decide to do depends on your location (some outdoor labs are regional), the materials you have, the size of your classes and how much money you have.  Over time, apply for grants and other funding to build up your supply of plant lights, probesware etc.

You need basic lab supplies that your school should already have such as glass and plastic beakers, balances, graduated cylinders etc.

APES Lab Supplies for Must-do Labs

While there are no official required labs for APES, there are a few which have appeared on the AP® Exam or cover many concepts that have appeared on the exam. Here are some recommendations for APES lab supplies.

• Salinization Lab:  For this lab you need
  • Salt
  • Petri dishes or ziploc bags
  • Distilled water
  • Plastic pipets
  • Seeds.  Peas, Mung Beans, and Radish are all good options

• LD-50 Lab: You can do this lab many ways.
  • Use salinization lab results so you aren’t taking time for a new lab.
  • Purchase a kit.
  • Purchase individual supplies for the lab
    • Macroinvertebrates such as brine shrimp or daphnia, or seeds
    • Some kind of toxin
    • Beakers/cups etc.

• Soil Quality Labs. There are two main soil labs that are essential:
  • Chemistry of Soil
    • Use a Test Kit  (best) or a soil meter.
    • Alternately, You can also take soil measurements with the ecocolumn lab instead of doing the chemistry of soil lab.
  • Physical Properties of Soil.
    • Can be purchased in a kit
    • Or individually purchasing materials such as sand, soil, gravel and plastic cups.

• Water Quality Lab
  This is an expensive, but essential lab. You can do this lab several ways:
  • An inexpensive kit for the lab
  • If you have a pond or creek to walk to, you may want a portable kit and a couple of hip waders and macroinvertebrate collection devices or kits.
  • Probes or sensors are more expensive initially, but end up saving money over multiple years. See this post for supply ideas for an in-class lab.
  • My favorite inexpensive dissolved oxygen meter is the Milwaukee Dissolved Oxygen Probe.  It rarely needs calibration and lasts for years. Also, fairly inexpensive (for a DO meter) on Amazon.

• Experimental Design Lab:  Don’t do as a separate lab just to teach scientific method at the beginning of the year–you don’t have time in an AP® course. Instead, teach experimental design with another lab such as salinization,  ocean acidification, biodiversity with quadrats, or air particulates.

Read the next post for more recommended labs.

APES Lab Supplies Part 2: More Recommended Labs