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My fleet of mismatched and aged microscopes, all with different problems and quirks, have simply become ineffective. I have 2 respectable, easily usable microscopes. Spread over 24 students, their usability is limited and devoting class time to microscope use is not an effective use of any of our time. Instead of learning that using a microscope is a fun and exciting way to see thing they normally can't, they walk away thinking that it's a boring waste of time and that our equipment is ancient and useless. We can't purchase new microscopes; but I can take one of our good existing microscopes and give it a new, expanded life through a specialized digital camera and open up that microscopic world just beyond our sight. Using this device, that fits over the eyepiece of a microscope, live microscopic images can stream right on my Smartboard. See something we like? We can take a picture of it. It's not a new fleet of microscopes. It can't fully replace that experience. But, boys oh boys, it's will be so much better than diagrams and internet searched pictures that aren't quite right and are definitely not live! Students can be active participants in making slides, finding the characteristics we're exploring and seeing the many things that exist around them. Concepts like cells, cell characteristics, mitosis, meiosis, bacteria and many others can be explored. Finding small life moving around in aquarium water and soil can be possible. Seeing the features of things that they have collected can be possible. This can help make seeing that microscopic world engaging and understandable.
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