If you’ve ever had a chance to talk with the folks from Carolina Biological Supply Company, here are some things you might discover about us:

• We're located in Burlington, North Carolina. This is not much of a discovery. You probably had a good guess about that from our name.
• We have provided dedicated service to science educators for over 80 years. In fact, Carolina's founder and many members of the staff over the years have been proud to have been former science educators.
• We have a long history of helping science educators with classroom tips, activities, and information to enhance classroom instruction. This goes as far back as 1938 with the first issue of the free newsletter, Carolina Tips®. This helpful attitude continues today with our Carolina Tips® emails, online teacher resources, workshops and in-booth demonstrations at science shows, and technical support from our staff scientists, educators, and experts. Who else but science educators would go to such lengths to share ideas and activities with their peers?
• We pride ourselves on making innovative products available to science educators and bringing the excitement of science discovery to students of all levels. Another way to say this is that most of us are science geeks at heart. We love to play and we love to see science teachers and students excited about the products we develop.

As a teacher, I was thrilled when I first got the opportunity to visit Carolina. I saw how the products I had used with my classes were produced, and talked with the people who produced them. I realized right away that the excitement these folks had in the organism, prepared slide, activity kit, or other product that they were working with was the same excitement that I had when sharing information and activities with my students. I sensed that these weren’t just people working at any old job—they were truly excited about what they were doing and realized the value and importance of their job to educating students. To quote many teachers who have had the opportunity to visit Carolina, “It’s like being a kid in a candy store.”

Some time later I was blessed (and this is a word I don’t take lightly) with the opportunity to join the staff at Carolina and to develop new products. For me, this is not only like “being a kid in a candy store.” It’s like being a kid asked to live in the store and, by the way, make sure you try a little of all the candy and, while you’re at it, could you help us make some new candy? To a science educator and true science geek, this was quite an opportunity.

After being part of the Carolina family for a little while and learning more of the company’s history, I now realize that making new and innovative products isn’t just something that one group of people at Carolina is tasked with doing. It’s part of the family culture and is taking place throughout the company, in all areas and at all levels. Carolina really is the place for innovations in science educational materials. Here are just a few examples of the innovations that have gone on at Carolina over the years.

1928     Shipped living protozoan cultures

1937     Injected squid with latex

1939     Injected preserved specimens with colored latex to highlight different parts of the vascular system

1942     Cultured Volvox with an original, landmark procedure

1957     Started selling genetic corn ears. Today, we are the only North American company that grows genetic corn ears and seed for science education

1965     Developed Formula 4-24® Instant Drosophila Medium

1968     Developed Protoslo®

1970     Developed Vitachrome® Cultures

1972     Produced the first thin section microscope slides for colleges and universities

1980     Developed FlyNap® anesthesia for Drosophila

1986     Developed Cabisco® Biotechnology in association with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

1988     Joined with the University of Wisconsin in the exclusive distribution of Wisconsin Fast Plants® materials

1991     Introduced Science and Technology for Children® (STC®) units, developed by the National Science Resources Center, published and exclusively distributed by Carolina Biological Supply Company

2001     Introduced Carolina’s Perfect Solution®, a new formaldehyde-free preservative

2009     Introduced Inquiries in Science®, a new guided-inquiry laboratory series for high school biology, chemistry, and environmental science students

So come back and visit with us as often as you have a chance. We’ve always got new innovative products, classroom tips, science news, and other information to share.

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• November: Dispelling science fair myths
• October: New kits for Fall