STAO has thousands of resources available for Ontario teachers. Members should login to see the full suite of available resources.
Use the search filters to sort by resource or media type, grade level, or strands or other topics. You can also search using the search box on the left of your screen, or simply by scrolling through the available resources.
Categories: General Interest
During an Occupational Health, Safety and Environment (OHS&E) Audit the following was raised by the auditor: ‘The permanently installed eyewash stations are connected to the cold water lines. The water dispensed by these devices should be lukewarm to ensure... read moreCategories: General Interest
Do ‘Flammables Storage Cabinets’ and ‘Corrosives Storage Cabinets’ need to have separate ventilation than what already exists in the... read moreCategories: General Interest
I was teaching a grade eleven chemistry class. The class was just before lunch. We were using 2 mol/L of sodium hydroxide. A female student spilt the dilute sodium hydroxide on her dark brown corduroy pants but it was difficult to see how much without a very close... read moreCategories: General Interest
A school custodian, collecting waste materials to be taken to the local landfill site, started a fire when he added some broken glass from a ‘Broken Glass’ container to the regular garbage, which contained paper towels and some unused potassium... read moreCategories: General Interest
A substitute science teacher was conducting a common introductory lab in the grade nine applied chemistry strand, identifying unknown chemicals (salt, baking soda, chalk, sodium nitrate, and sodium thiosulphate) in numbered containers using physical properties. Prior... read moreCategories: General Interest
Early in my career, before I obtained work as a full time teacher, I taught night school to a Grade 11 chemistry class. I wished to show them how white phosphorous was a waxy solid and could be cut with a knife. My cylinder of phosphorus lay in a pneumatic trough... read moreCategories: General Interest
Science Facility Safety was written to provide school board health and safety staff and educators with leadership responsibilities in science with practical background information on the safe use and management of science facilities. This resource is the companion... read moreCategories: General Interest
The original safety newsletter in which this story was published, and University where this accident was to have taken place have indicated that they cannot vouch for its authenticity. Nevertheless it does highlight the necessity for securing gas cylinders and is an... read moreCategories: General Interest
In an incident reported recently, a Grade 10 class was heating magnesium powder on a tin lid which was sitting on wire gauze supported by a ring clamp. The teacher, who was newly qualified, gave a group some more magnesium from the stock bottle, putting it onto an... read moreCategories: General Interest
A sudden and very loud bang from the fume hood – another accidental explosion of NI3? The student was standing at the fume hood, with the window halfway down and arms inside, pouring the mixture into a filtration apparatus. The ammonia-iodine mixture in the... read more