Final answer:
To have a successful laboratory experience, certain laboratory supplies including microscopes, Bunsen burners, pipettes, and incubators should be readily available to students, with around 20% excess to ensure adequacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
To ensure a productive laboratory experience, a maintained stock of laboratory supplies is imperative. During lab and open lab sessions, certain equipment and supplies should be available to support students' experimental work and learning. This includes microscopes and immersion oil for observing microscopic organisms, Bunsen burners or sterilizers for maintaining aseptic conditions, inoculating loops and needles (which may be metal or sterile disposable plastic) for transferring microorganisms, and metal forceps for handling specimens or equipment.
Further necessities include pipette pumps for precise liquid measurement, incubators set for both body and room temperature to grow cultures, biohazard disposal containers for appropriate waste management, an autoclave for sterilizing equipment, and a refrigerator for storing perishable samples. Additionally, each group of six student teams should be supplied with equipment like micropipettes, a UV spectrometer, a water bath set to 37 ºC, and a microcentrifuge. To accommodate for potential errors and incidental needs, a ~20% excess of reagents and equipment is recommended.