Checkout Policies
Dr. Emily Schmitt Lavin, Chair of the Biology Department, provides an approved list of borrowers to the Head of Circulation, Dinos Andreou. Only those on the list and current NSU faculty may checkout the molecular kits.
Checkout of these kits is done by appointment only. Each borrower must call the Alvin Sherman Library Circulation Desk (954-262-4601) and ask to speak with a circulation supervisor in order to schedule an appointment to both check out and check in these kits.
Borrowers will sign an agreement for the kits that will include details about their responsibilities for the kits while they are checked out. The loan period for molecular models is 15 days. If a molecular model kit is damaged, the Circulation Department will estimate at what point a model or set is not usable. The borrower will be responsible for the replacement cost if the models are not returned or are returned in an unusable condition.
Kits
Your students will feel bonds with these magnetic water molecules. Embedded magnets accurately reflect positive and negative charges, allowing your students to:
- Understand polarity
- Create non-polar ethanol
- Compare the various strengths of hydrogen, covalent, and ionic bonds
- Investigate capillary action and transpiration
- Demonstrate the differences between adhesion and cohesion
- Explain surface tension, evaporation, and condensation
- Show the states of water (gas, liquid, and solid)
- Dissolve salt to explore solubility
- Model ice structures and snowflakes
- Define and create models of the states of osmosis
- Understand the basics of water autoionization, dissociation and pH
Contains: 6 Plastic Cups, 72 Water Molecules, 6 Sodium Molecules, 6 Chloride Molecules, 6 Ethane Molecules, 6 Hydroxyl Groups.
The Enzymes in Action Kit© creates catalytic connections with models. The kit’s colorful foam pieces represent enzymes, and substrates. The protein model kit allows you to:
- Simulate enzymatic actions.
- Explain enzymatic specificity.
- Investigate 2 types of enzyme inhibitors used in regulating enzymatic activity.
- Examine how an enzyme may affect activation energy.
With the Enzymes in Action Kit©, your students will first use foam pieces to identify the enzyme and substrate and model how they might interact. Then, they will manipulate the pieces to demonstrate catabolism and anabolism. Additional pieces and activities will give them an understanding of enzyme specificity and enzyme inhibition. Finally, they will use the model kit to simulate the activation energy needed in a chemical reaction with and without an enzyme.
Contains: 120 Foam Pieces - 24 Enzymes, 24 Catabolism, 24 Anabolism, 12 Specificity, 12 Incompatible, 12 Competitive, 12 Noncompetitive.
The Phospholipid & Membrane Transport Kit© introduces the amphipathic structure of phospholipids – with their hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails. Your students will explore the chemical structure of a phospholipid and then construct a phospholipid monolayer, a micelle and a bilayer leading to an understanding of the plasma membrane structure. Additional components of this kit allow students to construct lipid bilayers and consider the role of transport proteins in moving ions and small molecules across membranes.
Contains: 150 Mini Phospholipids, 15 Membranes, 15 Glucose, 3 ATP, 90 H2O, 84 Na+, 84 K+, 3 Aquaporin (D), 3 K+ Leak Channel (E), 3 GLUT Carier Protein (A), 3 Na+/K+ Pump (C), 3 Gated K Channel (B), 18 Plastic Pegs, 9 Saturated Fatty Acid Tails, 6 Piece A Unsaturated Fatty Acid Tails, 6 Piece B Unsaturated Fatty Acid Tails, 27 Hydroxyl Groups, 27 Hydrogens, 3 Glycerol Backbone, 3 Phosphatidylinositol Head, 3 Phosphatidylcholine Head, 3 Phosphatidylserine Head, 3 Phosphatidylethanolamine Head.