Lab Supplies for Discover Anatomy & Physiology
For any family looking for a robust anatomy course, hands-on lab assignments are a must—and this involves purchasing supplies.
While most students favorite part of anatomy, is the labs, it’s not essential that students complete all of the labs. We’d recommend your student choose at least 15 of these to complete themselves.
Lab Supplies on a Budget
We understand the budget constraints of many homeschoolers — purchasing curriculum and supplies often for multiple children can be pricey! We recommend your students plan to watch all of the lab videos and complete at least 15 labs for high school credit. So how can you make this work on a tight budget?
First, we’d recommend you choose the labs to complete that only require easily obtainable lab supplies and supplies you can probably find around your house (such as the lab for lesson 2).
We also provide supplemental lab demonstration videos to go along with most of the labs in this course—specifically those that require specialty items that may be cost prohibitive for some families. While we consider this a distant second best to your students completing the labs themselves, we want to give an option to families who want to have their students participate in these labs and write the lab reports but are not able to obtain the necessary supplies.
Access to a Microscope
Quite a few of the labs require the use of a microscope.
If you don’t own a microscope, try to borrow one.
- Some local libraries allow you to check out a microscope to use at home.
- Check with other homeschool families or local co-ops to see if they have one you could borrow.
If a microscope isn’t available to borrow, and you can’t fit one into your budget, a distant second-best option is to use the demonstration videos provided.
Check out our Home Science Microscope Buying Guide
Where to Buy Homeschool Science Supplies?
We have worked with Cornerstone Educational Supplies to make purchasing lab supplies as affordable as possible for you. You have two options…
1. Purchase a Kit! (coming soon!)
The kit below has nearly all of the speciality items you’ll need, except the microscope (see our microscope buying guide for options).
2. Purchase your supplies a la carte
If you’d prefer to purchase just a few items at a time or you aren’t planning to complete all of the labs for the course, use the links below to purchase your items a la carte from Home Science Tools.
We recommend purchasing your lab supplies 3-4 weeks before your chosen start date to ensure they have plenty of time to get to you and that your dissection specimens are not too old when it’s time to use them.
Canadian Families
Please see this page for a special note on sourcing lab supplies.
Lab Supplies Listed by Lesson
Below is a list of lab supplies needed for each lesson. Alternatively, you can see the complete list of special lab supplies that will need to be order from a supplier and household supplies here.
Lesson 1: A Microscopic Look at Four Tissue Types
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Compound Microscope
- Lens paper
- Human squamous epithelium slide (epithelial tissue)
- Human skin slide (connective tissue)
- Human muscle slide, striated (muscle tissue)
- Neuron slide (nervous tissue)
Week 2: The Ice Water Challenge: Investigating Homeostasis
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Stopwatch or smartphone timer
- Large bowl or basin
- Ice cubes
- Digital thermometer (oral or forehead thermometer recommended)
- Towel
Week 3: Observing Mitosis in an Onion Root Tip
A lab demonstration video is available.
Week 4: No Lab
Week 5: Inside the Layers: Observing Human Skin
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Compound Microscope
- Human skin slide, sweat gland section
- Human skin slide, general white-section showing hair follicles
Week 6: Living Framework: Bone Tissue Under the Microscope
A lab demonstration video is available.
Week 7: Body Blueprint: The Skeleton Project
- Large sheet of paper (e.g. newspaper end rolls, butcher paper, or several sheets taped together)
- Pencil and markers or colored pencils
- Ruler (optional, for straighter lines)
Lesson 8: Exam 1 (NO LAB)
Week 9: Muscles Up Close: A Microscopy Lab
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Microscope
- Skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle slide
*The linked slide has all three types
Week 10: Grip Test Challenge
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Clothespin
- Stopwatch
Week 11: Muscles at Work
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Chair
- Small hand weight or can of soup
- Mirror
Week 12: Mind-to-Muscle Challenge
A lab demonstration video is available.
- 1 meterstick or yard stick
- Calculator
- Stopwatch or timer
- Partner
- Optional materials for variations such as:
-
- Blindfold to cover the eyes
- Space for jumping jacks or light exercise
- Colored tape or marker (for “go/no-go” or dual-task variations)
-
Week 13: No Lab
Week 14: Sheep Brain Dissection: Mapping the Nervous System
A lab demonstration video is available.
Week 15: Eye Dissection: Light, Vision, & Design
A lab demonstration video is available.
Week 16: No Lab
Lesson 17: Exam 2 (NO LAB)
Lesson 18: Mammal Heart Dissection: Exploring the Pump of the Cardiovascular System
A lab demonstration video is available.
Lesson 19: Heartbeat in Action
A lab demonstration video is available.
- Timer
- Stethoscope or cardboard paper-towel tube
Lesson 20: Blood ID: Exploring Cells & Types
A lab demonstration video is available.
Lesson 21: Modeling Lung Mechanics
A lab demonstration video is available.
- 1 sturdy plastic sports drink bottle with bottle cap (e.g., Gatorade, ~20-28 oz)
- 2 small balloons (5″)
- 1 large balloon (9″ or 12″) or latex glove
- 2 drinking straws
- Scissors or craft knife
- Tape
- Optional: hot glue or modeling clay to seal around straws
Lesson 22: Examining Cellular Respiration in Recovery
A lab demonstration video is available.
- 4 clear cups, pint-sized mason jars, or flasks
- 4 straws
- Water
- Bromothymol blue
- Graduated cylinder or measuring cup and teaspoon
- Stopwatch or timer
More labs coming soon!
