Homeschool World Forum

I'm curious about
a) How many of you have purchased microscopes for your kids

b) What brand/style was it?

c) Does it have a zoom lens or distinct objective lenses?

d) What range of magnification does it have (including the magnification of the eyepiece)?

e) Was this range of magnification adequate for your purposes?

f) What kind of illumination does it have - mirror or powered light source?

g) What is your opinion of the scope you purchased? (Did it hold up well? Was it easy to use? Would you recommend it to others?)


Thanks,

knobren

Dad had a high magnification (100x-300x, lighted) microscope that we got to use a little, and we had a cheapo low magnification one (mirrors) that we usually used. We also had a 50x? microscope attached to a screen, which was my personal favorite - no bending over and staring into eyepieces.

For use with kids up to 12 or so, I would recommend that you consider some of the devices out there that are essentially web-cams with optics modified for looking at things really, really close.

For one thing, you and child can both see what the "micro-cam" (or whatever you call it) sees, and discuss same.

When you need more magnification than these things provide, you begin to get into realms where more difficult techniques have to be mastered to get anything like useful results.

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Alternative answer:

A decent stero microscope is a WONDERFUL "toy". The magnification is "limited"... but the experiences to be had looking through them are wonderful.

I bought a good one at eBay... About $175.... e.g.

Tom

a) How many of you have purchased microscopes for your kids?
Our children are not yet old enough to use a microscope, but we personally have a Celestron microscope that we enjoy. It has a 3.5â€