Teaching children how to use a microscope...

One of the very first tools students are taught how to use in science class are students' microscopes. These tools are used to teach lessons on everything from cells to genetics. It is because students utilize microscopes throughout their academic careers that it is important that they are taught how to properly care for, handle and use a microscope early in their education.

The Care and Handling of Microscopes

The first lesson plans that teachers develop will need to focus on the proper care and handling of a microscopes. While these devices may seem bulky and heavy, they are actually very delicate. If they are mishandled or dropped, their lenses or focusing mechanisms can be damaged. Furthermore, some of the more advanced electronic microscopes can also sustain damage to their electrical components if mishandled. This is why it is important to start with handling lessons.

When developing a care and handling lesson plan for microscopes teachers will want to start by demonstrating how to properly carry a microscope. They will then need to demonstrate what to do and what not to do while setting up or working with a microscope. Finally they will want to show students how to clean a microscope and to put it away when they are done using it.

Creating Slides

The next set of skills that students will need to learn will revolve around creating a slide. Slide creation will be a part of many science class activities, including science fair projects. This means that lesson plans on slide creation can be planned to be implemented before for during lesson plans to teach science fair projects or cell units.

Slide creation lesson plans will want to start out with basic wet mount methods. They can then advance to creating dry slides and oil emersion slides. Finally, teachers can develop lesson plans around how to create a slide for photographing using a computer USB link.

Using a Microscope

After students have mastered the proper handling and care of microscopes and after they have learned how to create slides, the next lesson will be on how to use a microscope. This lesson plan will begin by showing kids how to set up a microscope. The set up process will include placement of the microscope on a desk, attaching power supply and possibly even attaching a USB cord to the microscope.

After teaching kids about the set up of a microscope the lesson plan will need to focus on how to focus a microscope and how to use its various features. Teachers can start with basic functions like how to change lenses and how to bring a slide into focus. Then they can move on to more advanced features like computer uplinks, screen captures and oil emersion techniques.

Conclusion

Teaching children how to use a microscope needs to be done in steps. Each step needs to include both lecture time and practice time. As students mature they can graduate from basic microscope models to more advanced models.

Written by :

Shimo