Classroom Resource: Quick Inventory Sheets

Some teachers prefer to do a periodic inventory of just the key elements in the kit.  To speed this approach up, the attached pdf files are four 8.5x11 sheets with most of the elements from the kit. Students place these sheets on their desk and lay the indicated parts on each sheet.  This eliminates the tedious and error-prone counting, but still ensures the kits are largely complete in a very timely manner.  The sheets are organized but tray compartments to help keep the process orderly. Placing these sheets in sheet protector allows reuse and marking up/signing off with a dry-erase marker.  These can then be stored under the bottom tray of the kit between uses. 

Attached below are two sets of pdfs.  The first is a color set which is great to use for students if you have the resources, but it is good to have at least one color set for a class since some of the parts are difficult to distinguish in black & white.  Since printing these color sheets in black & white mode produces very dark results, also included below is a Back & White set (BW in file names) with brightness maxed out and contrast turned up.  This are a little grainier in quality, but easier for students to see and they use much less ink.

Other teachers have used this approach, but with even fewer parts (just the most frequently used parts) included on the sheets.  Placing the components you want to inventory on a photocopier will create 1:1 scale inventory templates like these.  Placing then in sheet protectors allow easy mark-up of missing parts and they store easily under the bottom tray of the kit.  Copying each page onto four different colors of paper can all ease the organization.