Video courtesy Concordia University

Spencer tied his long hair back, donned the safety goggles from the kit and stationed himself at the counter near the kitchen sink to do the experiments he practised using the equipment. He learned the techniques of measuring, mixing and monitoring that are the fundamental skills of chemistry.

He was one of nearly 100 students who used the kits in the summer term; more than 500 will use them in the fall term.

Many Montreal-areaCEGEP and university classes will remain online as deans and administrators work with health and safety managers to ensure stringent safety protocols for labs and other classes that do take place on campus.

At Concordia, there will be in-person lab elements to certain courses in fields including engineering, biology, kinesiology, physics and advanced chemistry. Lab capacities will be reduced to allow for physical distancing. Some programs in the fine arts faculty will offer optional on-campus activities.

At Universit de Montral, about 30 per cent of courses will feature an in-person component, said university spokesperson Genevive OMeara. In chemistry courses for undergraduates, all labs will be on campus, as will 20 per cent of labs in the biological sciences.

For the remaining biology classes, professors came up with creative ways to develop activities to take place at a distance, she said. Among them, somefilmed laboratory procedures over the summer, others found multimedia resources relevant to their courses and a few will use virtual labs such as Labster.

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Introduction to chemistry takes students to the kitchen sink - Montreal Gazette