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Founded in 1963, LAB-AIDS’ goal has always been to provide the science teacher with unique and exciting products that help facilitate a more meaningful “hands-on” experience in the classroom. These products, “applied science concept kits”, were developed and designed by teacher’s, and have been successfully used in classrooms for over 40 years. Our primary focus is to:

• Motivate a student’s interest to learn
• Engage them in a hands-on experience that connects and applies science concepts and processes
• Make science fun.
  

The Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP), located at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley, began writing and developing science instructional materials for use in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms in 1982. The programs they produce are inquiry-based and highlight the science behind societal issues and problems. SEPUP’s approach is based on the beliefs that understanding the interaction between science, technology and the environment is essential to an informed citizenry and that decisions should be based on science, not slogans.

These beliefs are the reason that LAB-AIDS became involved with the SEPUP program. From the very beginning, we subscribed to this “issue oriented” approach, which helps students understand the everyday relevance of science. We shared the same philosophy as the developers, that if you give students a relevant reason why they should learn a particular science concept, and show them how that concept is applied to their everyday life; you will motivate them to learn. LAB-AIDS also felt that SEPUP was designing programs that emphasized strong “hands-on” experiences. Science concepts are introduced through student exploration and are enhanced by activities that build on students’ initial ideas. Those concepts and ideas are further developed, and then reinforced through discussion and analysis. We believe this approach engages the student, and makes learning fun.

LAB-AIDS is proud of our association with SEPUP, and as the publisher of their programs, we are committed to providing you with high quality products and professional services that guarantee a successful implementation.

Morton Frank originally conceived LAB-AIDS core product line while teaching and supervising the Science Department at Cold Spring Harbor High School in New York. He recognized and experienced first-hand, the ever-increasing demand on teacher’s time. Morton lamented over how these demands negatively affected the quality and quantity of lab experiences the students were having. Teachers simply didn’t have the time, or the resources, to do the necessary planning, purchasing and actual preparation for the many labs that they were expected to teach. In fact, Morton increasingly found himself in a position where many of his colleagues were requesting that he prepare their labs at the same time he was preparing his own. This situation, along with many creative ideas and a fundamental belief that knowledge grows out of experience, gave rise to the founding of LAB-AIDS in 1963.

The company initially offered three products and operated out of the basement of his home. It only took three years for Morton to recognize that his ideas and products were being well received in the market place that he decided to take a significant risk and retire from Cold Spring Harbor HS and commit full-time to LAB-AIDS. Since then, the company has steadily grown, both in product and facility. LAB-AIDS now offers over 125 core products that we call “applied science concept kits”, a full-line of issue –oriented SEPUP curriculum materials for middle school and high school, and a variety of other curriculum materials in the physical sciences. We have changed facilities a total of six times and currently operate out of a 42,000 sq ft facility in Ronkonkoma, NY. Morton Frank is now CEO of LAB-AIDS, and remains actively involved in product development while generously offering his time for advice, guidance, support and mentoring.

Ever since 1963, LAB-AIDS’ goal has always been to provide the science teacher with unique and exciting products that help facilitate a more meaningful “hands-on” experience in the classroom. The “applied science concept kits”, were developed and designed with that in mind, and have been used successfully in classrooms for over 40 years. These kits encourage students to explore basic science concepts, are complete and ready to use and are usually one to two classes in length. All of our labs have been developed and tested by science teachers, and are designed to:

• Motivate a student’s interest to learn
• Engage them in a hands-on experience that connects and applies science concepts and processes
• Make science fun.

In addition, LAB-AIDS remains committed to packaging all of our kits at an economical “cost per student”, and that these kits would save teachers hours of lab preparation time. We strongly believe that all our products should be able to facilitate a complete classroom hands-on lab activity “right-out-of-the-box”- requiring no additional materials with the exception of capital equipment such as microscopes. A lot has changed since 1963, but what hasn't is that Lab-Aids products continue to provide the best overall value in terms of time and cost savings to teachers. This unique approach, along with our self-guided student worksheets and teacher support material, is our guarantee for a positive and successful lab experience.

Up until 1986, LAB-AIDS had exclusively developed our own products. Our decision to become involved with The Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) at The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley was a major a change for our company and was based on their pedagogical approach to developing inquiry –based material that was issue-oriented. We shared the same philosophy as the developers, that if you give students a relevant reason why they should learn a particular science concept, and show them how that concept is applied to their everyday life; you will motivate them to learn. LAB-AIDS also felt that SEPUP was designing programs that emphasized strong “hands-on” experiences. Science concepts are introduced through student exploration and are enhanced by activities that build on students’ initial ideas. Those concepts and ideas are further developed, and then reinforced through discussion and analysis. We believe this approach engages the student, and makes learning fun. LAB-AIDS is the publisher of all SEPUP products and has designed the material packaging based on our successful applied science concept kit model.

2003 marks the 40th year that LAB-AIDS has been in the business of providing products to the science educator. I must admit, there are many times that I sit at my desk and am awed by our accomplishments, and humbled by the many fine professionals that are part of our staff. This success, however, didn’t come without a lot of hard work, good leadership and a strong educational philosophy that is embedded in all of our products. We are very proud of our contribution to science education, and encourage you to spend some time getting to know us a little better by reviewing this catalog and visiting our web sites.