Background: Students' well preparedness for laboratory sessions is of importance for a number of reasons including them being able to engage in and learn from the session and in acquiring the necessary laboratory skills needed for the scientific community and for possible further work in industry. To enhance the preparedness of the students an…

Inquiry-based approaches to science education are central to recent South African primary and secondary school curricula, but have been found challenging to adopt in disadvantaged township contexts. It is therefore important to find ways of introducing inquiry-based approaches, where pupils are encouraged to investigate phenomena they are…

Describes an exercise developed at the University of Natal (South Africa) in which students visit a plant which manufactures a variety of lead compounds. Outlines the procedures for the laboratory preparation of lead compounds that students prepare with samples they collected at the plant. (TW)