How many of these items do you already have? We've tried to keep it simple for you by making the majority of the items things most people have within reach (both physically and budget-wise), and even have broken down the materials by experiment category so you can decide if those are ones you want to do. Here's an easy way to decide which materials to get: look over the list, and if the group of materials seems to difficult to obtain, just skip it for now and go onto the next group within the unit. Most items are obtainable from the grocery store and online (links provided below). You do not need to do ALL the experiments - just pick the ones you want to do!

Shopping List for Unit 8: Chemistry Click here for Shopping List for Unit 8.

We’re going to be using real chemicals in this Unit, some of which are corrosive, hazardous, and most are toxic. This Unit is NOT for small children or households with loose pets (so stick Rover outside while you work). As you gather your equipment for this section, please keep ALL chemicals out of reach and sealed until you need them. We’ll show you how to safely store, mix, and clean up your chemicals. You can order all your chemicals from the same supplier (links provided below). We’ll be using this chemistry set for the rest of the year.

Make sure you have goggles and gloves for all experiments, and protect your table (put it near a window for good ventilation) with a thick plastic tablecloth. You’ll be using clear, disposable plastic cups and popsicle sticks to do your experimenting, so grab a box of each to last the entire year.

Materials:

If you are planning to continue your studies in Chemistry by going on to the next Chemistry course after this one (Unit 15) and then later the Advanced Chemistry course, then you can save money by ordering the C3000 kit now to use for this lab as well. It doesn't have absolutely everything you need however - here's a couple of items you'll need to get in addition to the C3000 kit for the experiments in this course:

If you're not planning to purchase the C3000 because you only want to do this unit right now, here's the stuff you'll need for this course:

  • Chemistry Kit Most experiments in this unit use chemicals from this kit. You'll also need to get  Potassium Iodide with your kit and a set of metal tongs.
  • Glassware Set If you don’t already own glassware just for chemistry, we’ve found an inexpensive set you can use all the way through college. You’ll need to get denatured alcohol for the burner. 
  • 2 right-angle (90 degree) glass tubing: these are rare to find, since they break so easily in shipping. Instead, order a set of short tubing and hold it over an open flame for a few seconds until it's soft, and then use tongs to gently bend it into shape.

Can I use my kitchen glassware?

NO. Use either disposable plastic cups or glassware specifically designated for chemistry. Lots of chemicals will adhere to the glass and need to be etched off in order to get it ‘clean’ again. Don’t take chances…everything that comes in contact with a chemical – including the measuring spoons – is now part of your chemistry set.


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Comments

57 Responses to “Shopping List for Unit 8”

  1. You can use plastic cups for certain experiments. But many experiments will require an alcohol burner so it is good to have it….and you’ll definitely need dedicated chemistry glassware for experiments requiring the alcohol burner.

  2. This page says we can used plastic cups and popsicle sticks instead of glassware but do we need the burner that comes with the glassware kit. I see we need denatured alcohol for the burner, but the burner itself is not listed.

  3. I will send you a personal email for your question so I can add more info.

  4. My 7th grade son would like to do unit 8. I need clarification, please. Are you saying that I should buy:

    * everything under the heading “Materials” (red cabbage, claear glue, borax, etc) as well as the
    * “chemistry kit”,
    * “glassware set” and
    * “short tubing”?

    Thanks for your help. He’s eager to get started. Id like for him to have shat he needs without extra materials to purchase and store.

  6. I’ll send you a private email.

  7. We are interested in completing chemistry 8,15 and then going into the ultimate curriculum. As far as buying supplies and going the least expensive route. What would you suggest

  8. It’s fine to start small, maybe even just enough for a handful of experiments (like a month’s worth) to see if there’s interest. If not, you can always revisit later. And yes, the C3000 is an entire year’s worth of high school level chemistry (also good for advanced middle schoolers). Hope this helps!

  9. kristinper says:

    Thanks so much! I noticed that the linked set is more expensive than the C1000 and doesn’t include glassware. We are just getting started with chemistry and I think will do other topics as well. I’m not sure if chemistry will hold his interest all year, so I’m hesitant to invest so much money in one topic. This will be for 7th grade.

  10. We’re still publishing about 100+ new videos just to Unit 15, so please check back in a couple of weeks, after we’ve re-organized everything. You will be able to do about a quarter of all experiments listed in this section. The C3000 is just so much bigger and includes so much more than the C1000. I would recommend the C1000 if you’re just getting started in chemistry.

    Also, you can look at Units 3 and 8 – Unit 3 is more of a “kitchen chemistry” lab set, and Unit 8 uses a set that is already available from another manufacturer.

  11. kristinper says:

    How much of this unit could we do if we just get the C1000 set? I’m looking to have my son do Unit 3, 8, and some others (different topics) but not 15 yet. Trying to do this as affordably as possible and avoid running around to get materials all year.

  13. monique_collado says:

    Hi this is Monique’s daughter I am trying to do best slime ( it on the shopping list for unit 8 ) and I can’t find the directions to it can you tell me where it is ?

  14. UPDATE for materials for Chemistry Unit 15: I am working on recreating the videos so they match again perfectly with what is included with the C3000 kit by Thames and Kosmos. There’s 300+ experiments in there, so it’s going to take a little bit of work to do this task, so in the meantime, I created a full-blown HS chemistry course that includes both lab and lecture parts int he Advanced Chemistry section here: https://www.sciencelearningspace2.com/grade-levels/advanced-projects-2/adv-chemistry-course/ You will need to find the materials for the experiments you’d like to do – there isn’t an “all in one” kit for this Advanced Chemistry course.

  16. Unit 8 and Unit 15 require different materials, so if you’re not sure how much chemistry you are going to cover, I’d stick with the less expensive set of materials (Unit 8), and go from there.

  17. Val Trujillo says:

    Thank you for the quick reply! Does the C3000 work for Unit 8 or is there another kit I should purchase for that unit?

  18. I am sorry for the confusion! When I first created the Chemistry content, I thought kids could learn most of what they need to know about chemsitry using everyday kitchen-type materials, so I created Unit 3.

    Then our students (and parents) wanted a more in depth experiments, so I added Unit 8 which uses the least expensive chemistry materials and equipment set I could find.

    And then my students (and parents again!) asked for even MORE chemistry, so I tried all kinds of “all-in-one” chemistry sets to find the absolute best one, which is the C3000 (the C1000 is included with this set), and made a curriculum based on what was inside the box so the shopping would be easier.

    So long story short, if you want a moderate-depth Chemistry course for kids K-8, choose Unit 8. If you want to do serious Chemistry, choose Unit 15 and get the C3000 (good choice for kids who love science for grades 5- 12).

    Oh, and as a side note, you can guess what happened after Unit 15 was released… I had parents asking for upper level HS and AP Chemistry courses, so I am in the process of finishing that course, which is available in the “Advanced” section when you click on “Grade Level”. ALl the content is there, however the hw sets and exams are not yet ready. 🙂

  19. Val Trujillo says:

    Hello again. In re-reading the comments it sounds like neither C1000 nor C3000 work for Unit 8, correct? Can you please spell out what is needed for Unit 8 and what is needed for Unit 15? Also can you tell us what’s misding from the revised kits? TIA

  20. Val Trujillo says:

    Hi- My child would like to complete Unit 8 and Unit 15. I’m unclear as to what I should purchase: 1) advanced Chem lab kit and chem glassware, 2) Thames and Kosmos C1000, or 3) Thames and Kosmos C3000? Thanks in advance!

  21. Jessica Chittum says:

    I did find Calcium Chloride sold under the product name Damp Rid! That was great find and may be a product worth adding to your idea list of where to get these items (I found it at Lowe’s and Walmart). Thanks and my kids are really enjoying the experiments!

  22. Yes, unfortunately they did revamp their kit and removed a lot of the really neat chemicals from their set. We created a conversion chart here so you can see what changes were made: https://www.sciencelearningspace2.com/standardcontent/docs/unit15-revisions.pdf As you can see, you’ll have to do a little extra hunting to get those missing chemicals back in your set. We’ve left the videos up because they are such great experiments to do in chemistry.

    Calcium chloride is found in grocery stores and online in small quantities here: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/calcium-chloride-30-g/p/CH-CACL2/ I am so sorry that everything isn’t matched up with the videos! We are working on a solution to this problem, because this isn’t the only kit that’s changed… let me know if I can help more.

  24. Jessica Chittum says:

    I am getting prepared to do the experiment, Hot Liquids and Cool Solids pt. 2 of Chem – Kinetics. I do not see Calcium Chloride in my supplies I purchased as recommended – Thames 3000 set and additional glassware. Is it perhaps called something else in the kit? I see it can be found in products Ice-Melt and Dri-EZ. Right now I don’t think I can find these locally since we are not in snowy weather. Thanks so much! Jess

  25. Jessica Chittum says:

    I am getting prepared to do the experiment, Turning Water into Ink and cannot find the Sodium Ferrocyanide in the Chem kit we ordered. I went ahead and got the more complete version – Thames 3000 thinking that would cover us for unit 8 and 15. I also ordered additional items as you recommended. Am I missing something? I wonder if the Sodium Ferrocyanide is called something else in the kit? I have Sodium Hydrogen sulfate and Sodium Thiosulfate – is one of these the same as sodium ferrocynide? I sure don’t want to guess on this stuff!!! Thanks for letting me know what to do to get the sodium ferrocyanide. Jessica

  26. Hi Kim,

    I apologize for the delay! The answer is yes and no… the chemicals for the C1000 are not the same as the ones required for Unit 8, but there is some overlap. At the time, we were only planning to do one unit for chemistry (Unit 8 ) so I picked a small, inexpensive chemistry kit for Unit 8. But then they discontinued this small set and it was no longer available for purchase, so I created Unit 15 which used a larger, more widely available chemistry set, and now I understand they brought back the original set for Unit 8… so that’s why things are a little confusing! And now there are TWO versions of the C1000 and C3000, and my team is creating a new set of videos to go with these new sets, which will be posted to Unit 15 as Lessons 3 and 4 very soon.

    And yes, the C1000 includes glassware, so only get the C1000 and the chemicals for Unit 8 if you opt to do both. The happy news is that although the C1000 and C3000 contain less materials than their original versions, you will be able to do nearly all the experiments (I think there’s only one chemical you need to find elsewhere) in Unit 15.

    The materials for the bouncy balls you can get from the pharmacy – they are considered ‘hazardous materials’ to ship, and the shipping charges are very expensive, which is why you won’t find them included in chemistry sets.

  27. Hi. I am planning on doing Units 8 and 15 with my 10-year-old son. If I get the Thames & Kosmos Chem1000, will that have what I need for both units besides the couple additional things you listed (such as for the bouncy balls)? I saw that you recommended a different chemistry set for Unit 8 and so I was uncertain. Also, I am assuming that Chem1000 would have the glassware I need–am I correct? Also, I saw on Amazon that there is a Chem1000 and a Chem1000 (2011 edition), but I couldn’t find a comparison anywhere–they did look a bit different on the photos (like the 2011 edition might have less pieces)–do you happen to know?

    Thank you!
    Kim West

  28. If you’d like to do Unit 8 and 15, then yes you do need the chemical kinetics kit. Don’t get the optional glassware, as the C3000 has everything you need. The happy news is that we’re creating a third lesson to Unit 15 that covers more of what you already have with the C3000.

  29. Helen Morton says:

    We are newbies and are starting with Unit 8 -Chemistry 1 and then will go on to Unit 15. Just purchased C3000. We also need the advanced chemistry kit too—Correct? Thanks.

  30. Start with Chem 1 as it’s a foundation for Chem 2 and uses the same box of materials (the C3000).

  31. D Lambert says:

    Ok. Which Chemistry should I start with for highschool? Chemistry 1 or advanced Chemistry?
    Denise

  32. You might want to start with Chemistry since it’s mostly up (we’re releasing a third level soon). I’d hate to have you work through biology and then have to stop because you’re waiting for us to publish the next unit! 🙂 Does that help?

  33. D Lambert says:

    For my highschoolers, should I start with Chemistry Part 1, or just go into Advanced Chemistry?

    Unit 16 teaches about cells, would that be good to start for highschool biology?

    Thank you,
    Denise

  34. Yes, use ethyl or isopropyl where listed – they are two totally different molecules. If you can’t find the right percentages, adjust the amount of water used with each. For example if you need 91% isopropyl and can only find 50%, then omit the water in the experiment and it should come out about right.

  35. Hope Martin says:

    Hi! Was out picking up supplies today. Would you believe a local pharmacy carries the sodium silicate!?! Of course I had already ordered online. :\ And forgot to pick up the nitrile smalls. Argh.

    I was wondering though… the shopping list links to a 95% Ethyl alcohol but in the stores here I can only find 70%. However, I can find 91% Isopropyl. Does the percentage or the type matter?

    Thanks!

  36. Hope Martin says:

    Many thanks! I will check out the local med supply and the local drug store (since I’ll need to pick up the alcohol there anyway).

    I’m sure I’ll have more questions later. 😀

  37. I get our stash for kids from our local medical supply store. Do you have one of these near you? I use Nitrile Smalls that does not contain latex or powder.

  38. Don’t worry! I am here to help you as go you along. You don’t have to ‘go it alone’… 🙂

  40. Hope Martin says:

    Thanks Aurora! I’m gathering supplies and… I’m terrified. LOL!

  41. Yes – you should have more than enough for two kids. Five would be stretching it.

  42. Hope Martin says:

    Hi!
    Will chemistry kit will have enough chemicals to do the experiments twice? I’m going to be doing this with 2 kids.

  43. Hi Julie,

    Yes, the curriculum for Chemistry are Units 3, 8, and 15 (7 is Astronomy), and is a complete curriculum for Chemistry. If your kids don’t want to do the experiments, that’s totally fine – there is more than enough content for them to focus on without getting their hands in it – there are videos they can watch the experiments being done, audio lectures, text reading, etc that they can do along with asking any questions they want and getting a real answer FAST from our team (of University Chemistry professors!)

    Does this help? Remember, each child is going to have their own learning strategy and being able to meet them on their level in their own way is part of the challenge of teaching.

    The e-Science program has a lot of overlap in the content, so you won’t have to stress over missing any content if you don’t “do it all”. For example, if you’ve got a more auditory learner, you’ll probably spend most of your time with the teleclasses and videos. Digital students prefer the text downloads and reading about the experiment from the website. Kinesthetic and visual students will prefer watch the videos and build the projects. We all have all four modes, but you’ll find a stronger preference for one of these. You’ll find more information about this in the Parent Resource section.

  44. Julie Erickson says:

    I would like to do a reasonably complete high school chemistry course with my kids. Do you think e-science would be adequate for this, and which units should be included (my assumption would be Units 3, 7, 8, 15 )? Also, should we be doing all the experiments for this – and if not which ones would be best to focus on? My kids aren’t overly thrilled with experiments thus far…

    Also, I’m not really sure how to find the answers when I post like this . I think I’ve missed some in the past.

    Thank you.
    Julie

  45. Kacey Sauve says:

    Thanks I tried it on another computer and it worked so I guess I do have some odd browser settings. 🙂
    -Caleb

  46. Hmmm.. that sounds like you have an odd setting in your web browser in your options somewhere. What happens when you open this page on another computer? Note – the shopping list link is the exact same thing as the page itself, just in a printer-friendly format, so if you still have trouble, just print the screen and you’ll have all the right info.

  47. Kacey Sauve says:

    I tried to open the shopping list on my laptop,
    but all it did was open around 80 tabs that were blank what should I do?
    -Caleb.

  48. Which materials were missing from the shopping list? We want to be sure that each one is complete. Thanks so much for your feedback.

    P.S. You’re right – you first want to look over the materials required for the experiments you want to do, and THEN go shopping for what you need. The kit recommended includes items that are harder to find for most folks that want to do ALL the experiments (including Water to Ink, Water to Wine, Iodine Clock, Iodine Rainbow, Hot Liquids, etc) which require chemicals such as ammonium chloride, calcium chloride, cobalt chloride, copper sulfate, iron ammonium sulfate, limewater, phenolphthalein solution, polyvinyl alcohol (used in the Slime Lab in eCamp), potassium ferrocyanide, potassium iodide, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, sodium thiosulfate, universal indicator, copper and zinc wires, etc. But if you already have these items, then you definitely don’t need to invest in this kit. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂

  49. Lee Giles says:

    The shopping list definitely doesn’t have everything needed. And a majority of the experiments can be done without ordering the expensive kit. The list makes it sound like you need the kit and if you buy the kit, you’ll have everything you need for all the kinetics experiments and that’s not the case.

  50. Hi Heidi,

    You’ll find Unit 15 shopping list at the very bottom of the list under ‘Shop List’.

    You’ll find order links on the shopping list. Let me know if you have any further questions! 🙂

  51. Heidi Nowaczewski says:

    Hi Aurora! I was looking over the shopping list and saw that you mention picking up the C1000 instead of the glassware set if planning on doing unit 15 in one section, but say C3000 in another? Also where would I find either of those? Unit 15’s shopping list isn’t up yet.
    Thanks!!
    Heidi

  52. Yes, we recommend Units 3 and 8 for younger students, although you’re going to want to supervise the experiments due to the nature of it being chemistry. (The one we do NOT recommend for young students is Unit 15, which will be released later this year.) Just store the chemicals out of reach until you watch the safety video – it’ll tell you everything you need to know about storage, waste, and handling of the chemicals.

  53. Verity JOhnson says:

    Hi Aurora,
    I was wondering if the advanced chemistry set is needed for doing the unit with younger children (7 and 9). I don’t have a problem getting it, I just want to know if I would be using it with smaller kids.
    Thanks
    Verity

  54. Thanks for the tip. I don’t want you spending so much on a black light (although you will be using it for Units 7, 8, 9, and 12), but here’s an alternate link for one in the $5-8 range. Find it in pet stores as part of the “Urine Off” cleaning product.

  55. Anita Mullins says:

    By the way, it appears the Home Science Tools company is no longer supplying the Long-Wave UV lamp. I believe Amazon (I do not know who else to check) was selling UV lamps starting at around $44.00.

  56. Part of the shopping list mentions a glassware set, which is listed as an optional item in case you already have a set of glassware you can dedicate just for chemistry. You can use old cups, mugs, and water glasses for most of the experiments using a popsicle stick to stir. Now that I think of it, we did update the shopping list recently, so you might have an older version. (We do try to keep revisions to a minimum…)

    Also note that you don’t need the fancy setup for this fish experiment – just a pot of water on the stove (there’s a note in the text about this substitution).

    Happy Experimenting!

  57. Theresa Salchert-Keller says:

    Aurora,
    The shopping list for the Chemistry Unit, is that everything we will need? I watched the video for the experiment “why don’t fish drown” and there were some objects that don’t come with the chemistry kit. Are these things others have that have done previous units?
    Thanks, Theresa