Microscope Mayhem!

Their first interactions with microscopes!

Two Form 4 students practicing how to focus

So when my family came to visit last month (blog post to come) M and D brought me two little natural light microscopes to use in my Biology classes.  HUGE hit!  The teachers were elbowing each other out of the way to see onion skin magnified at 1200x.  And the kids were just as excited. 

Robert explaining how to make a salt crystal slide.

Robert came over and helped me conduct a 4-day microscope workshop with the Form 2’s and 4’s.  They learned the parts and how to care for the microscopes and how to focus them at different magnifications.  They learned how to make their own slides and dye specimen.  They identified parts of animal and plant cells, which they had previously only seen crude drawing of on the chalkboard.  The teachers even participated in the workshop so they would know how to teach it on their own.

Robert teaching my kids!

Drawing and labeling plant cells

Form 4's and Form 2's teaming up to make slides

  

Me!  Explaining how to dye specimen on a slide

Madam! Is this right!?

Besides the impromptu demonstrations I did last year on how plants work, using wine glasses as test tubes, this was their first practical lab work they’ve ever done!  It was amazing how focused they were the whole time.  I've never gotten them to quiet down so fast and stay on task for so long!

Props to Mom and Dad!