Microscopes for Children
So my daughter asked for a microscope for her 6th birthday. How was I suppose
to not get her that!? The problem comes afterwards … how do you keep the
enthusiasm alive after the pre-canned slides have been quickly looked at.
Here are things I've been trying …
Dead bugs in the windowsill. Did you know that gnats are furry?
And bee wings have thicker cells in their wings than mayflies.
Microbes. Pond water rocks. Superglue a washer to a slide and put a couple of
drops of water collected from a neighborhood pond. All kinds of
fun creatures to watch… need to figure out what they hell they are.
BTW: When you collect them, get the water close to the mud at the bottom,
as they don't seem to be near the top where it is easy to get them.
Salt. Don't get rock salt for this … you need standard fine grain salt.
Watch salt dry. Dissolve some salt in water, and put a single drop on
a slide. Do this before the kids come around, and wait for it to start
to dry. Then watch the salt form. (Where can you find boric acid?)
Pollen. They stick to bee hair like velcro.
Any one have any other ideas?
Tell others about this article:
