Life Sciences
Biology/Ecology
Nutrient Agar
Typical base media for the cultivation and counting of bacteria. Use distilled water (available from most pharmacies) to mix with the powdered agar supplied, boil and pour into sterile petri dishes (available below). Agar will gel when cooled. Prepared petri dishes with agar will last 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Vial makes about 250 ml of solution, enough for up to 25 petri dishes if you pour it thinly enough. Preparation instructions included with suggestions for a simple temporary incubator (using a large plastic tub with lid, a small heating pad and a thermometer).
AGAR.02 $6.00/vial
Petri Dishes
Plastic disposable petri dishes for holding growing media for bacteria. 85 mm diameter (base). Contents of sealed packages are sterile, but single dishes are NOT sterile. Culture media (i.e. agar) is NOT included.
PETR.01 Sealed package of 25, with lids $12.95/pkg
PETR.02 Single dishes with lids $0.75 each
Inoculation Loops
For introducing test solutions onto agar plates and spreading. Thin aluminum handle 20 cm long, loop wire 8 cm. Easily flame sterilized.
LOOP.01 $2.95 each
Medicine Dropper, glass
Whether you call them eye droppers, medicine droppers or pipettes, these are the good quality glass ones with black rubber squeeze bulbs. 75 mm (3") long, straight tipped or angled for comfort if doing a lot of fine dropper work. (Also see plastic droppers, below)
DROP.01 straight tip $1.00 each
DROP.06 angled tip $1.00 each
Droppers, plastic
Graduated pipettes with squeeze bulbs. Capacity and length varies, it depends on what our suppliers send us. Made of translucent flexible plastic, moulded in one piece. Excellent low-cost "medicine dropper", disposable.
DROP.07 1 $0.25 each
DROP.08 10 $1.50 for 10
DROP.09 100 $10.00/bag
Tweezers/Forceps, Metal
Tweezers, forceps, pinchers, wee little grabbers, whatever! TWEZ.01 & .02 are the typical tweezers you would expect to see in anyone\\'s medicine cabinet. They are metal with rounded point ends, a textured finish for a positive finger grip and 3" long (76 mm). TWEZ.07, .08, .09 & .10 are also metal, but longer (typically 4 1/2" or 115 mm long, but *can be up to 125 mm depending on manufacturer). TWEZ.07 & .08 have sharper points and fine serrated inner tips for positive grip on the object being picked up. TWEZ.09 &.10 have more rounded or "blunt" tips and more coarse serrations in the jaws, especially useful for dissection work, as they are less likely to puncture soft organs as compared to the fine tip ones.
TWEZ.01 76 mm, 1 only $1.50 each
TWEZ.02 76 mm, Dozen $15.95/doz.
TWEZ.07 115* mm, fine tip, 1 only $2.00 each
TWEZ.08 115* mm, fine tip, Dozen $20.00/doz.
TWEZ.09 115* mm, blunt tip, 1 only $2.00 each
TWEZ.10 115* mm, blunt tip, Dozen $20.00/doz.
Scalpels
Blades and handles sold separately. Used as dissection scalpels (our products are not recommended for actual medical procedures), blades are wrapped individually in foil to remain sterile. Handles are stainless steel, made in Germany and are non-sterile but can be sterilized if necessary. Blade sizes #11 and #23 are popular blade sizes. #11 size is a straight, thin blade with an acute angle tip. #23 blade has a wide "sweeping curve" shaped blade. Blade #11 fits handle #3 and Blade #23 fits handle #4.
SCPL.06 Scapel HANDLE ONLY, size #3 $4.00 each
SCPL.07 Scapel HANDLE ONLY, size #4 $4.00 each
SCPL.09 Scalpel Blade only, size #11 blade, single $0.50 each
SCPL.10 Scalpel Blade only, size #11 blade, 10 $4.00 for 10
SCPL.11 Scalpel Blade only, size #11 blade, 100 $40.00 each box of 100
SCPL.12 Scalpel Blade only, size #23 blade, single $0.50 each
SCPL.13 Scalpel Blade only, size #23 blade, 10 $4.00 for 10
SCPL.14 Scalpel Blade only, size #23 blade, 100 $40.00 each box of 100
Dissection Needles
We used to call these "Student Teasing Needles", because that\\'s what the manufacturer called them, but we stopped using that name when some teachers (who shall remain nameless) wanted to take the name literally. A probe by any other name. These needles have either a wooden or plastic handle and are available with either straight or angled tips, used for dissecting specimens or fine manipulation of tiny articles (not for teasing students).
NEDL.01 1 only, wood handle, straight point $0.50 each
NEDL.02 Dozen, wood handle, straight point $3.95 dozen
NEDL.03 1 only, wood handle, angled point $0.50 each
NEDL.04 Dozen, wood handle, angled point $3.95 dozen
NEDL.05 1 only, plastic handle, straight point $0.75 each
NEDL.06 Dozen, plastic handle, straight point $5.95 dozen
NEDL.07 1 only, plastic handle, angled point $0.75 each
NEDL.08 Dozen, plastic handle, angled point $5.95 dozen
Dissection Scissors
Short-blade scissors available with either straight or slightly curved blades, used for dissecting. Blunt tip scissors reduce accidental piercing of soft tissue and are stronger for cutting small bones and tough tissue.
SCIS.01 Curved blades, blunt tips $4.95 each
SCIS.03 Curved blades, sharp tips $4.95 each
SCIS.04 Straight blades, sharp tips $4.95 each
SCIS.05 Straight blades, blunt tips $4.95 each
Mall Probe & Seeker, for dissection
Thick metal probe used for moving tissue out of the way or for helping to find harder structures (i.e. bones) while dissecting. 15 cm length, one end angled with a 2 mm flat end, the other end 5 mm wide, hexagonal and flat (NOT chisel-shaped ends).
DISS.06 $2.95 each
Latex Gloves
Very thin, soft, cream-coloured latex. Non-sterile, disposable, lightly powdered for easy donning. Ambidextrous. Provides biological protection from yukky germs, not intended for chemical protection.
GLOV.08 Extra Small size, full box of 100 $12.95/box Limited supply! All other sizes sold out.
P.T.C. Paper (Phenylthiourea-Phenylthiocarbamide)
For use in Medical Genetics. PTC paper is bitter OR tasteless, depending on the heredity of the taster. 100 strip vial.
INDC.04 $3.95/vial
Stethoscope
Nurse’s stethoscope, the real thing. Bowles type, black, single diaphragm.
STET.02 $16.95 each
AUGUST 2023 UPDATE: The North American barn owl population is at a 10-year low and natural owl pellet supplies are very limited. This industry-wide shortage means that supplier prices have gone up considerably and the result is we will have to raise our prices accordingly. (Prices yet to be determined.) We have a limited order of Owl Pellets on order with a supplier, but it may be several weeks before we have them in hand. To be fair to everyone wanting Owl Pellets, this shortage also means that we may have to limit our sales to 10 pellets per class.
Owls eat mice and other small mammals and birds, but their intestines are not large enough to handle the bones of these animals. So the owl regurgitates the fur, feathers and bones in an elongate pellet form, not unlike a cat’s hairball. Each pellet has been sterilized and should contain bones from at least one small animal or bird. Students pick apart the pellet, remove the bones, identify them and attempt a reconstruction of the skeleton. This is an alternative to traditional "wet" dissection for those uncomfortable with it. Kit contains 2 sterilized foil-wrapped owl pellets, tweezers, 2 craft stick "probes", petri dish with cover, magnifying glass and instructions/information sheet with bone charts. Note: As with other natural specimens that require "opening" (such as geodes), there is no guarantee that each owl pellet will contain the expected material. Nature does not provide guarantees, nor have we X-rayed the pellets to see if they contain complete skeletons. These pellets were collected in the wilds of Washington & Oregon by various means and are bound to contain a variety of prey.
OWL.01 $xx.xx/kit (price to be determined - please contact us for updated price)
Owl Pellets, individual
The same pellets included in the Owl Pellet Kit above, but available individually. Sterilized, foil wrapped. See "Note" above.
OWL.03 $x.xx each (price to be determined - please contact us for updated price)
Skeleton Models, Human
Human skeleton anatomy models, plastic. Three sizes available but only 2 listed here for sale. The largest (life-size) model is fully articulated with flexible joints and is available as a rental, in the Calgary area only. (See Rental Information page.) Note that general detail of the models and mobility of joints decreases with decrease in size. All come with support stand.
SKEL.02 85 cm tall ("half" life size) $89.95 each
SKEL.03 46 to 51 cm tall $29.95 each
Soil Moist
Soil Moist is a product used as a media to release water into all types of soils. It absorbs water and swells in size forming a soft gel-like material. When the surrounding soil dries, the water is released to the soil. Consists of clear polyacrylamide granules which absorb up to 600 times their own weight in water. With sufficient water, one 5 g package expands to fill a 500 ml (2 cup) volume. If being used entirely on its own as a TRANSPARENT SOIL, water-soluble fertilizer must be mixed with the water before adding to granules.
MISC.05 (5 g package) $1.50/pkg
Click TOPS to check out the following units elsewhere on our site:
TOPS Module #37 - Animal Survival $26.95
TOPS Module #38 - Green Thumbs: Radishes $26.95
TOPS Module #39 - Green Thumbs: Corn & Beans $26.95
Also be sure to see our selection of Microscopes and Magnifiers elsewhereon our site.