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New Science Center - Science Equipment

Fund-an-Item Program

In an effort to provide other opportunities to support the Centralia College Foundation's Capital Campaign, specific scientific equipment has been identified by the faculty at Centralia College as essential in the learning experiences for our students. Donors may purchase one or more pieces of equipment, and wherever possible a tag will be placed on the equipment noting the name of the donor. To fund an item, please select the amount below or call the Foundation at 736-9391, ext 290. See Items to Fund for item descriptions. For more information:

Fund an item

Please select the equipment you would like to fund (see descriptions below).






Thank you! If an item has already been fully funded, your donation will be applied toward other needed equipment.


Items to fund

digimelt$850—Digimelt Melting Point Apparatus

The Digimelt Melting Point Apparatus is used by students in Organic Chemistry to determine the melting point of chemicals. Melting point is an important tool when identifying unknown chemicals. At present students are using old instruments which measure temperature via hazardous mercury thermometers, oil baths, and microscope cover slides.
Quantity needed: 6

laser rangefinder$450—Laser Range Finder/Hypsometer and Global Positioning Devices

The Laser Range Finder/Hypsometer is used to measure distances generally and tree heights specifically. The Laser Range Finder/Hypsometer uses laser technology to assess angles an distances much more accurately from a greater range of positions and give height output automatically in the field. This will be used in Environmental Science, Biology, Botany, and Geology courses. Currently students use a clinometers to measure the angle from a standing position to the top of a tree, a tape measure for distance to the tree, and using trigonometry, estimate the height of the tree.
Quantity needed: 3

GPSThe Global Positioning Devices (GPS) are hand-held devices—now a fundamental tool of use to scientist who want to precisely locate themselves in the field. The geographic coordinates of sample locations and field sites derived by GPS can easily be imported into spreadsheets or GIS programs or shared with other researchers. This unit features a new, highly sensitive GPS receiver that acquires satellites faster and lets users track their location in challenging conditions, such as heavy foliage or deep canyons. It also incorporates a barometric altimeter for extremely accurate elevation data and an electronic compass that displays an accurate heading while standing still. These GPS units will be used in Earth Sciences, Environmental Science, Botany, and Ecology classes. Currently we have one GPS unit. It must be shared among multiple student groups in the field; this wastes valuable field time as someone had to carry the GPS from group to group.
Quantity needed: 6

mechanical wave driver$250—Mechanical Wave Driver and Micropipettors

The Mechanical Wave Drivers are tremendously versatile and can be used in many experiments: resonance of string waves; 2-D resonances (Chladni plates): I-beam resonances, etc. These would be used in Physics and Engineering classes. Currently we use an antiquated electro-mechanical oscillator that uses the line voltage frequency to oscillate at 120Hz. The existing string oscillators are good for only a single experiment and are bordering on being unsafe as some line voltage wiring is becoming exposed.
Quantity needed: 7

micropipettor

The Micropipettors allow our students to precisely and repeatedly add very small volumes of reagents to experiments. These would be used in Biology classes, including Cellular and Molecular Biology and Microbiology. They have also become standard tools in Cell Physiology. It is expected that transfer students going onto upper division courses know how to use these tools. Currently we use disposable, plastic, needle-point pipettes to move small volumes (fractions of drops) of liquids, such as sample containing DNA from a source to our experiments.
Quantity needed: 3 finest scale pipettors, 3 middle scale pipettors, 3 large scale pipettors, and 1 microliter pipettor

stereoscope$200—Stereoscopes

The Stereoscopes are one of the most fundamental tools used by earth scientists for interpreting geology and environmental hazards. Stereo pairs of aerial photographs can reveal faults, landslides, and other features not readily visible on non-stereo images. These would be used in the Earth Sciences classes. Currently we lack enough stereoscopes for a full lab of student (24).
Quantity needed: 3

stethoscope$125—Stethoscopes and Sphygmomanometers (Blood Pressure Monitors)

Our students use stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers to measure cardiovascular functions. This includes heart sounds, and blood pressure changes during exercise. These would be used during Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology classes. Currently we have some stethoscopes, but they lack sufficient resolution to monitor small changes in heart sounds. Several of our sphygmomanometers are museum pieces.
Quantity needed: 2