This page includes the supply list for all Form 3 guides with live links.
Jump to: Astronomy | Biology | Botany | Chemistry | Geology | Physics | Weather
Astronomy
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply Store
Binoculars (optional, reviews)
Compass (Amazon options, HST Item# RM-ORNCOMP or GS-COMPASS)
Handheld magnifying glasses, with the handle cut or broken off (ideally use one that is larger than the other HST Item# OP-MAGLEN3 and OP-MAGLEN4). Alternatively, you can buy lenses online (one 150 mm and one 500 mm double convex lenses, HST Item# OP-LEN4X15 and OP-LEN4X50) but these will not fit your chip tube. Instead, you will need to use a paper towel tube or, even better, a wrapping paper roll to construct your telescope tube.
Safety glasses (HST Item# CE-GOGGLE1)
Thermometers, 2, that will fit inside the glass jars (see Lesson 15, HST Item# ME-THER30A)
Hardware Store
Black electrical tape
Dark potting soil (for 2- to 3-centimeter layers in each jar)
100-watt bulbs, 2 (Or as high a wattage as you can get. Do not use LED bulbs)
Low-temperature hot glue gun
Grocery Store
Baby powder in a plastic squeeze bottle
Ball, 1 or more (such as a tennis ball, softball, Wiffle ball, golf ball, or even a bean bag. Or you can make small “paper balls” by tightly wadding up pieces of notebook-sized paper.)
Ball, 1-2 inch, such as a ping pong ball or something similar in size
Black bristol board or poster paper
Chip tube, empty (such as Pringles) with the end cut out
Colored pencils or pens (light green, green, forest green, brown, light blue, dark blue)
Disposable pie pan
Liquid hand soap or shampoo with a pearlescent or metallic appearance. (Look for glycol stearate, glycol distearate, or glycerol stearate in the ingredients list. You only need 2-4 tablespoons of soap, so a small container will be enough.)
Red and blue water-based food coloring. (Other colors are optional. Gel works fine.)
Spray bottle
Library or Bookstore
Pluto’s Secret: An Icy World’s Tale of Discovery by Margaret Weitekamp (picture book)
Around the house
Bucket (trash can, 5 gallon bucket, or something similar)
Decorations for the outside of your finished telescope (see Lesson 30)
Drinking glasses
Flashlight
Glass jars, 2 (quart size or larger)
Hot pads or oven mitts
Ice cubes
Lamps, 2
Permanent marker
Plastic wrap
Print Designing for the Barely Imaginable activity (https://qrs.ly/cxcr14g)
Print digital image worksheet (https://qrs.ly/p7cqhuq).
Rubber band (optional)
Ruler with metric measurements
Scissors
Several coins of the same denomination (such as 3 or 4 quarters)
Spoon (optional)
Stapler
Stove, hot plate, or another heat source with variable settings
Watch or a clock with a second hand
Water (room temperature and hot)
Biology
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply Store
Microscope (optional)
Prepared slides (optional, plant and or animal cells, and fibers, such as cotton)
Test tubes, 3-6 (HST, CE-TTUBEKT or other small glass containers)
Methylene Blue solution (0.5% to 1%, optional, see Lesson 12, HST CH-METHBLU)
Plastic pipette or dropper (optional, see Lesson 12, HST, Item# CE-PIPET)
Hardware Store or Hobby Store
Fresh mint plant
Mix of large and small seeds, such as mixed birdseed. (Instead of using actual seeds, other objects like buttons, coins, marbles, peanuts, pine nuts, etc.)
Grocery Store
3×5 cards (optional)
Corn syrup or light yellow soda pop
Fingerprint ink pad (optional)
Green split peas
Lemon or orange slices (optional)
Meat tenderizer (or fresh pineapple juice or contact lens cleaning solution)
Mini marshmallows
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (option 2a, see Lesson 12)
Red and blue food coloring
Red Hots (Jelly Beans or Twizzlers also work)
Rubbing alcohol (70-95% isopropyl or ethyl alcohol)
Sprinkles
Library or Bookstore
Pets in a Jar: Collecting and Caring for Small Wild Animals by Seymour Simon (Lesson 1)
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm (Lesson 2)
Field guides
Around the house
Blender
Clothes iron (option 2a, see Lesson 12)
Coffee cup
Cotton swabs (optional, see Lesson 12)
Glue
Heavy books (option 2b, see Lesson 12)
Leaves and flowers from around your home (option 2, see Lesson 12)
Liquid dish soap
Medium-sized container, such as a measuring cup.
Paper plate (optional)
Paper towels (see Lesson 12)
Pencil or marker
Print instructions for “How to Use a Microscope“ (https://qrs.ly/jscspio, option 1, see Lesson 12)
Print the activity “Timing Is Everything” (https://qrs.ly/uhcsz3c)
Print the activity “Creepy Critters” (https://qrs.ly/5mcstec)
Print the activity “It’s a Plankton Eat Plankton World” (https://qrs.ly/2mcscuf).
Print the activity, “Human cheek cells” (https://qrs.ly/tbcsrcc, option 1, see Lesson 12)
Print the Organism Cards (https://qrs.ly/p7cstf0)
Print the set of bones (https://qrs.ly/rjcstlb)
Scissors
Small glass container (¼-½ cup) or 50 mL test tube (HST, CE-TTUBEKT)
Spoon
Mesh strainer
Table salt
Timer
Tongs or chopsticks
Tweezers
Water, hot and regular
Waxed paper (option 2a, see Lesson 12)
Yarn or string
Botany
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply House
Aquatic plant, 8-10 sprigs, such as E. densa, E. canadensis, or Chara (Elodea, live culture, pack of 12, HST, Item# LD-ELODEA) Please Note—Live cultures can be difficult to sustain. The culture will come with care instructions but plan to use it within 1-2 days of arrival for best results.
Beaker, 250 ml, 3 (HST, Item# CE-BEI0250) or small jars
Beaker, 600 ml, 3 (HST Item# CE-BEI0600) or large jars
Calcium hydroxide (HST, Item# CH-CA(OH)2, the book recommends barium carbonate, but you will use lime water in the HS Chemistry Study Guide, so using it now will save on supplies.)
Cobalt chloride (HST, Item# CH-COCL2, optional, see Lesson 21)
Cobalt Chloride Test Paper (Amazon, optional, see Lesson 21)
Compound microscope (optional)
Cork Borer (HST, Item# CE-CORBO15)
Dialysis tubing (HST, Item# BE-MEMBRLG; you can use this rather than sheep bladder as it is a semi-permeable membrane tubing that can be used to demonstrate diffusion and osmosis.)
Ethyl alcohol (HST, Item# UN-ETHYALC)
Filter paper (HST, Item# CE-FILTPAP, optional, see Lesson 21)
Glass or vinyl tubing, several feet long and about the same diameter as that of the stem of the plant to be used (HST, Item# CE-TUBEPLS)
Iodine solution (HST, Item# CH-IODINE)
Large funnel (HST, Item# CE-FUN120G, 12 cm wide x 22 cm long) The outside diameter of the funnel stem is about 14 mm. Funnel, glass, 90 mm dia
Funnel, glass, 90 mm dia (HST, Item# CE-FUN090G. The outside diameter of the funnel stem is about 10mm, which allows the test tube to fit over it.)
Pipette (HST, Item# CE-PIPET)
Plain glass microscope slide and cover slip
Safety glasses (HST Item# CE-GOGGLE1)
Sodium Bicarbonate, 1 g (HST, Item# CH-NAHC100)
Stirring rod (HST, Item# CE-STIRROD)
Test tube kit (HST, CE-TTUBEKT)
Thistle tube (HST, Item# BE-THISGLS)
Forceps or tweezers (HST, Item# DE-FORCEP)
Wrapping cord (HST, Item# MC-STRING)
Hardware Store or Hobby Store
20-W fluorescent light source
Panes of glass, 2 (I purchased two 4×6 glass clip picture frames from a craft store for $2.50 each, and removed the glass for this activity.)
Popsicle stick
Rubber tubing, short piece that can slip over the end of the glass tube (You might search for this in a local hardware store or automotive store. See Lesson 19)
Sand
Garden Center
Corms, such as crocuses, gladioli, or cyclamens
Flower pots, 8 or yogurt cups with holes in the bottom
Saucers to put under the pots or a baking dish to set them all in
Fully grown balsam plant or seeds for one or a similar plant with a long thick stem (order here)
Peat moss or sawdust (**I no longer suggest peat because it’s not a renewable resource.)
Potted plant
Pruning shears
Rooting compound (liquid or powder)
Seed-starting mix
Seeds, appx. one cup of each: bean, pea, corn, pumpkin, sunflower, and buckwheat (order here and here)
Tall stake, such as a 3’ bamboo stake
Two plants
Grocery Store
2-quart glass jar with lid
Bell jar or Mason jar that will fit over the potted plant, 2 (see Lesson 21)
Beets (including leaves)
Celery stalks
Cornstarch
Drinking straw
Organic potato, medium size, that has begun sprouting (76% of conventional potatoes have been treated with chlorpropham, a herbicide that inhibits sprouting. You want a potato that will sprout.)
Another potato of any kind
Quart size wide mouth Mason jar
Red food coloring
Rhubarb, called pie plant in this section, or a piece of celery
Rubber gloves
Rubbing alcohol
Sunflower and white carnation, purchased from a florist
Wood barbecue skewer
Ziplock bags (optional)
Around the house
Knife
Lighter
Marker
Masking tape
Matches
Molasses or sugar solution
Needle
Paper towel
Pushpin
Plastic wrap
Ruler
Salt
Saucepan
Kitchen scale
Scissors
Several varieties of leaves.
Stapler
Sugar
Teasel flowers, if you find some growing near you
Toothpicks
Tree shoot (branch) two or three feet long, branched if possible
Vase
Water, boiling
Water, distilled
Water, room temperature
Wax paper or a shallow dish
White plate
Chemistry
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply House
Alka-seltzer tablets, 2-3 (HST, Item# CH-ALKASEL)
Ammonium nitrate (HST, Item# UN1942) Alternatively, you can cut open a cold pack bag to remove the packet of little white balls. It’s full of ammonium nitrate.
Beaker, 250 ml (HST, Item# CE-BEI0250) or a glass cup
Calcium chloride, granular, an Irritant (HST, Item# CH-CACL100) OR Road Salt (Read the label to make sure it is pure calcium chloride; sometimes other chemicals are added to help melt snow.)
Connecting wires or alligator test leads (HST, Item# EL-ALCLIP2)
Dry yeast, 1 tablespoon or ¼ teaspoon potassium iodide (HST, Item# CH-KI) Both work equally well. It just depends on whether you would like to use a common household item or a product that seems more scientific.
Graduated cylinder (optional, HST, Item# CE-CYGL250)
LED diode, 1 (HST, Item# EL-LEDRED)
Red litmus paper (HST, Item# CH-LITRED)
Blue litmus paper (HST, Item# CH-LITBLUE)
Safety glasses (HST, Item# CE-GOGGLE1)
Voltmeter or multimeter (HST, Item# EL-DIGMULT or Amazon)
Hardware Store
Balloons, 2
Brick or wide-mouthed jar filled with water and tightly closed
Calligraphy pen and nib (crow quill nib and holder) or a toothpick (optional, see Lesson 18)
Candle. A votive candle would work best, but you can use another size as long as it is at least one inch shorter than your jar. (See Lesson 3)
Chopped up rose petals (optional)
Galvanized electrical box (Lowes)
Glow sticks, 3
Modeling clay, 2” chunk
Wooden dowel rods or skewers, 4
Grocery Store
Ammonia (optional, see lesson 18)
Aspirin
Beetroot, canned or fresh
Bendable drinking straw
Colorless soda (such as 7-Up)
Digital scale
Food coloring, any color
Fragrant spice, such as cloves or cinnamon, 1 tablespoon
Fruit juice, Cranberry, Pineapple, and 2 other kinds
Funnel
Hydrogen peroxide (6% solution), 50 ml (1.5 oz)
Iron supplement that contains ferrous sulfate to make your own ferrous sulfate solution (Walgreens High-Potency Iron, Nature Made Iron) OR purchase ferrous sulfate drops (Walmart – Drops for Infants, Amazon search)
Lemon juice
Liquid detergent
Liquid dish soap, 1 tablespoon
Matches
Milk of Magnesia
Plastic cups, 2 wide (9 oz) clear
Plastic cups, 6 small
Plastic deli-style condiment containers, 2
Plastic stirrer
Red cabbage
Rubber gloves
Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)
Steel wool without soap
Straws
Turmeric
Water, distilled
Around the house
Baking soda
Burner to heat the pot of water
Cake pan
Coffee filter or paper towel
Drinking glass, tall
Glass bowl that fits over the saucepan (See Lesson 6)
Glass bowl, small, such as a cereal bowl, to act as a collecting dish
Glue
Hairdryer (optional, see lesson 18)
Ice cubes
Jar, small, such as a narrow jelly jar
Long-necked bottle (such as an empty, and clean, individual size soda bottle)
Masking tape
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Metal pie plate
Milk
Pan with a lid that is curved (see Lesson 6)
Paper
Paper towel
Pen
Pennies, 17
Piece of cardboard that will cover the top of the glass
Ruler
Salt
Saucepan, 3-quart, made of stainless steel, enamel or glass (not cast iron or aluminum)
Scissors
Sink or a large bowl
Steam iron (optional, see Lesson 18)
Tape
Tea (instant tea can be used)
Thermometer, candy or meat
Thick card stock
Toothpicks
Vinegar
Water
White Styrofoam egg carton with the top removed
Print Chemical Composition Worksheet (https://qrs.ly/1pcqhz9)
Print Acid Base Indicator Test table (https://qrs.ly/trcqibc)
Zipper baggies, large
Geology
Hardware Store
Sand, ~10 cups
Rough sand, about a cup (such as the kind builders and bricklayers use with pebbles in it)
Grocery Store
Bath sponge
Dried beans, whole package, such as pinto beans
Epsom salts
Around the house
Baking dish
Bottles with screw top lids, small (glass or plastic)
Broiler tray or cookie sheet
Cardboard
Coffee cup or another cup to pour water
Cookie sheet or dinner plate
Crayon
Dinner plate
Dinner plate, salad plate, or another dish (dark in color if possible)
Drinking glass
Empty tin can with a lid
Glass jar with a screw cover
Heavy books, 4
Ice cubes, 6
Jars, 2 (such as old condiment jars)
Large jar or glass baking dish (A fish bowl or aquarium would be even better. Look at the experiments on pages 32, 35, 38, and 39 to better determine what jar will work best.)
Pebbles, large, about two cups worth
Paper clips, 2
Paper towels
Pencils, 2
Pie pan (disposable or regular)
Pitcher
Plastic zipper bags, 2, large enough that one jar will fit inside (see Lesson 19)
Salt, a heaping teaspoon
Saucepan
Sheet of dark paper or cloth
Sheet of paper
Small flat plates, 2 of equal size
Soil from your yard, 2 cups
Soil that contains sand and pebbles, 3 cups
Soup can with the top and bottom removed
Spoon
Stove with a broiler
String, approximately 12” long (a natural fiber sting like cotton or wool is best. Alternatively, a piece of paper towel will work well)
Toothpaste, Half-empty tube
Washbasin or tub to collect runoff (see Lesson 3)
Water, warm and regular
Wax paper
Physics
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply House
Bar magnet (HST Item# MG-BAR3AL)
Alcohol lamp and stand (HST, Item# CE-LAMPKIT)
Compass (Amazon options, HST Item# RM-ORNCOMP or GS-COMPASS)
Cylindrical metal rod (HST Item# GS-RODSTL)
Eye Dropper (HST Item# CE-DROPPER)
Galvanometer (HST Item# EL-GALVAN1)
Insulated copper wire (HST Item# EL-WIRE24I) OR Insulated copper wire with alligator clips attached to each end. (JAMECO #2273543, HST Item# EL-ALCLIP1 or Item# EL-ALCLIP2)
Three light socket adapters. Also called outlet to lamp socket adapters (Lowes, Amazon)
Tongs (HST, Item# CE-TONG) or a kitchen hot pad
Wire stripping tool (Amazon options) OR Wire cutters, scissors, a knife
Hardware Store or Hobby Store
Electrical tape
Fishing weights of different sizes, 3, or other objects that differ in weight (see Lesson 5)
Metric ruler
Metric tape measure (or regular tape measure)
Ping-pong ball
Popsicle sticks
Power strip
Red, green, and blue light bulbs, 1 each (Try to get the same wattage for each bulb and try to find either incandescent bulbs or fluorescent bulbs, as the light emanated from LED bulbs doesn’t always work for experiments involving color.)
Sidewalk chalk
Small nails
String at least 30 cm (nearly 1 foot) long
String, 2 meters long (about 7 feet)
String, 50 cm long (approximately 20 inches)
Wood shavings
Wood, 2-inch x 2-inch x 2-inch piece of oak
Wood, 2-inch x 2-inch x 2-inch piece of pine
Wood, blocks (see Lesson 16)
Grocery Store
2 Liter soda bottle
Balloon
Can of Coke and Diet Coke
D battery
Paper cup
Plastic straws
Playing card
Pushpins, 6
Red food coloring
Rubber bands (all of the same length and kind)
Library or Bookstore
Come See the Earth Turn by Lori Mortensen (optional, picture book)
Around the house
50 g or 100 g object that can be tied to a string (see Lesson 6)
Balls of the same size, but different mass (2). For example, you could use a metal ball and rubber or wooden ball that is about the same size. Or you could use two different balls used in sports that are the same size but have different weights.
Boxes (see Lesson 12)
Bright desk lamp
Bucket or deep bowl
Cardboard or corkboard at least as large as a piece of printer paper
Cardboard paper towel or toilet paper tube
Clear glass baking dish
Clear quart container or jar
Coffee mug or another container that can withstand heat
Drinking glass
Eggs, boiled and regular
Empty milk jug or 2-liter soda bottle
Glass bottle, tall
Glue
Hair blow dryer
Ladder or step stool
Long, wide concrete sidewalk, driveway, or another hard surface that you can draw on with chalk (as an alternative, you can make distance markers out of paper and place them on a surface on which you cannot draw)
Marker
Matches or lighter
Paper towels
Paper, a strip about 5 centimeters wide and 30 centimeters long (about 2 inches by 12 inches)
Pencils, 2
Plastic bags
Plastic containers
Plastic drinking cups, 2
Plastic tube (Remove the ink cartridge from a pen, leaving only the barrel, so it is open on both ends.)
Print Cart and Brick Worksheet (https://qrs.ly/9vcqwlb)
Print Density Activity (https://qrs.ly/zmcqu3i)
Printer paper
Quarter
Ruler
Salt, 1 cup
Several cloth items, such as shirts or towels, of various colors, 3-5
Several coffee cups that are identical except for their color, 3-5
Spoon
Tape
Transparent tub or plastic Tupperware container
Video camera with a tripod or a helper to record your experiment (optional)
Water, hot and regular
White copy paper, 1
White surface, such as a wall or a piece of white poster board or foam core. (White paper taped to stiff cardboard also works well)
Wool sweater (or use the hair on your head)
Weather
HomeScienceTools.com or Supply Store
Alcohol thermometers, 2 (HST, Item# ME-THER30B)
Hardware Store
Balloon (round) alternatively you could cover a globe or other circular object with plastic wrap and use it
Balloons, 2 large (plus a few extra in case one breaks)
Outdoor thermometer
Protractor
Rubber bands (one that is large enough to fit snugly around the mouth of the jar)
Small electric table fan
Strong tape (like duct tape)
Table tennis ball
Tongue depressor or popsicle stick
Votive candles, 3 (1 ½ – 2” tall)
Grocery Store
Gauze pads or bandages (look in the first aid section of your pharmacy)
Drinking straw
Empty 2-liter plastic soda bottle
Food coloring (red and blue work best)
Soda or water bottle with the cap (1-liter size works best)
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Bait Shop
Crickets (optional, see Lesson 20)
Library or Bookstore
Climate Maps by Ian F. Mahaney (picture book)
Around the house
Blocks, cups, or other objects of equal height, 3 (approx. 4” tall) that will support a cake pan full of water
Cloud Identification Guide by Dr. Tina Cartwright of Marshall University, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and/or Globe.gov (You may wish to print these double-sided and then laminate them, so they stay in good condition throughout the term.)
Colored pencils (red and blue or a match to the food coloring you use, see Lesson 12)
Flashlight
Glue
Heavy cardboard rectangle (11” long x 7” wide)
Ice, 6 cups
Index card or piece of cardstock
Jar (such as an empty pickle jar or Mason jar)
Large rectangular clear glass cake pan (13-15” long x 9-10” wide x 2” deep)
Matches
Paper or cardstock
Permanent Markers (two different colors)
Scissors
Scotch tape
Stick pin
Tape or white glue
Thread
Timer (optional)
Water (room temperature water and warm water)
Zipper bag, gallon size