The American Girl Science Lab Set

The first thing I put in my shopping bag at the American Girl store in Boston was the Science Lab set.  Many of the accessory sets in the store tempted me--including the amazing Campus Snack Cart and Julie's Sound Accessories, but this was the set I wanted the most.  I was drawn to this set in general because I love science, but I also think it has a lot of neat pieces, including a microscope and a mini text book with actual printed words:

Our Generation Charlotte reading the American Girl science textbook.

I couldn't wait to de-box this set, so many of these pictures were taken in Boston, moments after I got home from the store, on my sister's green glass kitchen table.  That's why the familiar grey background is missing from most of the photographs.

The American Girl accessory packaging is great.  The Science Lab set comes in a compact cardboard box:

The box is simple, but very appealing.  The colors and designs are attractive and enticing.  Also, the box is fairly small, so there were stacks and stacks of them stored on the shelves right next to the school room display.

The only thing that unsettled me about the box is that it isn't sealed, and many customers at the store were opening the boxes and peering inside to see what was included.  Peeking inside isn't necessary, because a full list of contents is provided on the side of the box:

Because I saw a lot of boxes being opened in the store, I ended up opening this box before I bought it, just to make sure everything was still in there.  It's a vicious circle.  I'm not sure whether sealing the boxes with tape would solve this problem or make it worse.  People might just break the seal and open the box anyway...and then the store is stuck with a box that looks damaged.  

All of the items are loose in the box, surrounded by a small layer of tissue paper.  This is such a pleasant change from typical play doll boxes.  Rather than having everything tied down to a flashy backdrop and displayed in a box that is six times larger than it needs to be, this packaging is the picture of economy.  I love it.

The green apron is on top:

And all of the other goodies are tucked underneath the apron, each stored in their own small plastic bag:

Here is everything in the set:

The green apron is made out of a medium-weight cotton fabric:

It has a science logo iron-on.  The colors are crisp and the lettering is straight, but I wondered how this decal would stand up over time.  I scraped at the letters with my fingernail pretty vigorously and, to my pleasant surprise, they didn't peel or warp or anything--they stayed put.

The apron has velcro attachments at the neck and at the sides:

A blue American Girl tag is sewn to the bottom of the apron:

The set includes a pair of safety glasses, which is great because I really enjoyed all of the different glasses that were on display at the store, and wanted to be sure that my doll had her own pair.

The glasses have clear plastic rims and opaque turquoise temples.  They don't look as bulky as real safety glasses, and the color gives them some style:

The apron fits Our Generation Charlotte nicely, as do the glasses--the glasses even match her dress!  

I think these could pass for regular glasses.  I'd wear them.

The apron fits Princess & Me Rapunzel nicely, too, and the glasses look good...in fact, they lessen the effect of her enormous eyes: 

The ear pieces are a little too long on this doll, but they can be hidden by her bountiful hair:

The apron fits the slim 18" bodies like EuroGirl and Magic Attic:

 But the glasses are hit-or-miss on this size doll.  They're just a tad too big on my EuroGirl:

That's a little scary, actually.

And crazy-big on the narrow-faced Heather:

Take me to your leader.

The apron doesn't fit My Twinn Hazel at all.  It looks like a tank top on her:

Um...did someone wash this in hot water?

Surprisingly, the glasses fit pretty well:

The set comes with three plastic test tubes:

And a test tube rack:

The test tubes each have a colored plastic rod inside that looks like liquid.  The rods slide back and forth inside the test tubes.  I like that each tube holds a different volume of "liquid."  Kids could practice reading measurement lines with these!  There are no marked units, though.

The beakers have measurement lines on one side, and the American Girl logo on the opposite side:

The little black lids do not come off:

The set comes with a mini textbook, which is one of my favorite pieces.  The cover of the book says Scott Foresman.  This is not the name of the author, but rather a publishing company for Pearson Education.  This book appears to be excerpted from a real Pearson science textbook.  

It has a cute picture of a panda on the front and back covers:

I read through a lot of this textbook.  I wanted to know if it actually provides a good framework for studying biology.  I mean, there have to be kids out there who will read this book from cover to cover several times, maybe even making lesson plans from it as they play school with their dolls.  This puts pressure on the book to be reasonably well organized, interesting...and correct.  

The book has three chapters: Classifying Plants and Animals, Energy From Plants and Ecosystems.  The subject matter is a little random, but there's some good information in here.  

There are even little activity suggestions and test prep questions scattered throughout the chapters.

That plant cell diagram is a little sparse.

I hope these pages were taken from a really old textbook, because the list of kingdoms is incorrect.  The book states that there's a kingdom of "ancient bacteria" and another kingdom of "true bacteria."  In fact, scientists have known since the 1970s that the tiny organisms originally thought to be ancient bacteria are in fact their own unique group, the Archaea.  These critters look like bacteria, but are actually are just as chemically and genetically different from bacteria as I am.

Excellent summary of 1970s biology.

I also take issue with the introductory page on animal classification.  This page is correct, but I find it misleading.  It states that scientists classify animals into two main groups--vertebrates (animals with a backbone) and invertebrates (everything else).

Oversimplification.

Scientists categorize animals based on their genetic relatedness, and place them into groups called phyla.  There are over 30 animal phyla, and vertebrates are just a teeny, tiny set of animals within one single phylum.  All of the other thirty-something phyla of animals (more than 98% of all animal species on Earth...) are invertebrates--and they're not all closely related.  So, while the book admits that invertebrates outnumber vertebrates, setting this out as an important method of animal classification is an oversimplification...but one that is unfortunately common in science textbooks written by vertebrates.

The book is amazingly cute--it's just that the teacher in me has to correct the mistakes.  I can't help myself.

I have to live with her, guys.

The other main attraction with this set is the microscope and its miniature slides.   The slides come in a nice cardboard box with a schematic of an atom on the cover:

Atoms are too small to see with a microscope.

The box holds five different plastic microscope slides:

The scale is a little funny with these slides.  Some of the items are appropriately sized, but others would never fit on a real microscope slide.  Let me show you what I mean.  Here's the American Girl clover slide:

And here's a real slide with a real clover leaf:

That's pretty good.  But then, look at this red oak leaf slide:

Compared to a real oak leaf:

Oof.

The other problem with the slides is that you'd never slap an entire leaf on a compound microscope slide.  A leaf is too thick to let any light show through--all you'd see is a big dark blob blocking all of the light.  Real microscope slides have tiny, very thinly sliced specimens that allow the light to shine through.  Like this:

I have no idea what silver berry scaly hair is...

What's great about the American Girl slides is that they each have the scientific name of the specimen printed on the label.  

Not only are the names correct and written in the right format (italics, with the first letter capitalized), but this method of identification is discussed in the mini textbook!  

Danaus plexippus

Cyanocitta cristata

Despite some inaccuracies (this is a toy, after all) I like the mini slides.

Here's the microscope:

It is made completely out of plastic, and doesn't have as much weight as I'd hoped.  I also wish it was just a little bigger--this would make it easier to use.

Here are some size reference pictures:

Here it is again with some handy labels:

The eyepiece on this scope really moves up and down if you turn the focus knob on the side:

There are three pretend lenses on the nosepiece.  On a real microscope, each of these would provide a different level of magnification.

There's a tiny, adjustable mirror underneath the stage that will reflect light into the lens.  This is how some microscopes actually work!

The eyepiece has a subtle American Girl star on its side:

The little plastic slides fit nicely on the stage:

And you can actually look into the eyepiece and see the specimen:

Here's what the violet slide looks like:

I don't think there's any magnification.

I can even read the lettering:

Here's a peek at the monarch butterfly slide:

I had to try out one of my real slides--with thin specimens that will allow the light to actually shine through.  

I adjusted the little mirror so that light was shining directly into the lens.  I could actually see a fair amount of detail in this insect wing!

That makes me wonder how much additional effort would have been required to make these slides transparent and more accurate.  Not that I would expect there to be real insect wings in the slides--in fact, that seems like a terrible idea (especially for the insects!) but maybe something like a clear, hard plastic slide with a replica of an insect wing printed on the plastic so it looks real and so that the light can shine through?  I feel like for $36, this set could have delivered that level of awesome.

Still...it's a fun set:

Bottom line?  I love that American Girl has a science set.  The teacher in me hopes it is hugely popular. 

The green apron and safety glasses are well-made, look good, and can be shared by several of my 18" dolls.  I wouldn't buy this set just to get those items, though--they're a little plain.  The test tubes are cleverly made and have some great detail.  I like that they all hold different volumes of pretend colored liquid.  The test tube rack is simple, but it allows the test tubes to be showcased nicely.  American Girl dolls can't hold these tubes (nor can any of my other 18" dolls) so the play and posing options for the this part of the set seem limited. The test tubes do look great, though, and would add a nice laboratory feel to any schoolroom set-up.  

The best items in this set are the microscope, the mini slides, and the readable textbook.  The textbook does a great job of teaching a few basic things with its tiny 87 pages.  There is some actual science to be found within the three diverse chapters, however I did stumble on a few inaccuracies and oversimplifications.  The microscope is made completely out of plastic, which gives it a disappointingly lightweight feel. Real microscopes are heavy.  I also think it's just a bit too small.  However, it is very accurately designed, and the moving parts add to the fun.  The best thing about the microscope is that the tiny eyepiece and illumination mirror work, so you can actually look inside and see the slides.  The mini slides are fine, and they supply the real scientific names of their specimens, but since the microscope has a light source, why make slides that completely block out the light?  A little more attention to detail and accuracy would have made this part of the set truly incredible.

The price is high.  I was so caught up in the excitement of the store, I didn't internalize that I had paid almost $40 for this set until I got home.  I need to assume that I am paying a certain percentage of the actual value just for the brand name.  I find this easier to accept since I bought the set at the store, and got a really fun afternoon as part of the bargain.  I think if the microscope was a bit heavier and larger, or if the slides were more accurate, I wouldn't mind the price much at all.  

This is not a perfect set--or a perfectly priced set.  However, the science theme is close to my heart and these pieces will add a wonderful dimension to dolly schoolrooms across the country.  I can picture kids peering into the plastic microscope and maybe adding a real microscope to their birthday wish list.  I hope that kids are learning to pronounce the scientific names of monarch butterflies and blue jays because of this set, getting their first introduction to how animals are identified.  I think there might even be a few kids out there who are asking their parents if they can do one of the exploration activities in the tiny textbook.  When I picture these things, it's pretty easy to forget the little flaws and the big price.