Re: [Phys-l] new construction help

["Jeffrey Schnick" <JSchnick@Anselm.Edu>]

Hi Paul,

We underwent major renovations 10 years ago and went minimalist on the
built-in equipment.  There is a faucet in the room but we do not have
water supplied to each bench.  No gas.  No compressed air.  No DC.  Just
4 AC outlets at each station (make sure you get at least 4) and 2 data
connections at each station.  (Ask to have each station put on its own
20 amp circuit--we load them up pretty heavily but I don't think we have
ever tripped a circuit breaker.)  Funds were provided at the time of the
renovation for us to beef up our equipment holdings and we increased our
holdings to 8 or 9 each of three different portable variable power
supplies: A 0-30volt 0-3amp constant DC current or (depending on
settings and load) constant DC voltage source, a 0-6000 volt DC power
supply, and a 10amp DC power.  We got some portable electric burners too
(the kind that look like a single cooking stove top burner).  We
considered having air piped in for the air tracks but got some quiet
portable air supplies instead.  I don't miss any of the  plumbing or the
DC outlets.  

The only regrets I have are:

I didn't make myself aware that the building was to be a closed
ventilation system with windows that don't open--no more dropping stuff
out the window.  Given that it is a closed ventilation system, it would
be nice to have a station with a hood in a workroom near the lab for
doing things like gluing, painting, and soldering.

We didn't specify the thickness or material for the lab bench tops--they
came in at about a half an inch thick in something that appears to be
black soapstone.  Our rod clamps that attach to the bench top don't
screw down far enough to clamp on to those bench tops so we have to use
a slab of wood under the bench tops--you probably want to make sure that
your bench tops are at least an inch and a quarter.  No big deal but I
wish I had thought of it in advance.

I don't know if this is applicable but our labs are surrounded by
classrooms.  More sound isolation from the classrooms would be nice so
that we could do noisy labs without worrying about disturbing classes.
Also, no one thought about AV rooms in the building and so we lost some
storage space after the fact as IT needed some place to store shared
items like TVs, film projectors, and data projectors.  This may no
longer be a concern with the movement towards built in data projectors
in the classrooms.

Jeff Schnick
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH

> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
> bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Lulai
> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 8:43 AM
> To: Forum for Physics Educators
> Subject: [Phys-l] new construction help
>
> Hey.
>
> I teach at St. Anthony Village High School, just outside of
> Minneapolis.
> We are currently planning a renovation of our science rooms.  We are
> continually being told to design world class labs for the next 100
> years.  In the next few weeks we will be taking tours of local schools
> to take a look at some newer science labs.
>
> I have three questions (or maybe 2 with an a&b on #2):
> First- if you are from the Minneapolis area, can you recommend a
school
> that we visit?
>
> Second- what items am I missing from the list below (if I am creating
a
> world class h.s. lab for the next century)?  I am the only physics
> teacher in the building.  One or two extra heads on this would be
nice.
>
ys-l