A request for activities for students and teachers

Gary W Brown · Post by **Gary W Brown** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:06 pm

Hi all,

I'm not sure that this is the right place to post this request, but I would like your help. I'm going to be giving a presentation to high/middle/elementary school science teachers soon and would like to have some suggestions for activities that you find interesting and fun. This program will probably focus on microscopes (bad pun irresistible)

but could also include photography techniques. If there is something you have had fun/success with and would like to share I would appreciate your help.
I have two hours for this presentation and will make it as hands-on as possible.

Thanks,
Gary

g4lab · Post by **g4lab** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:51 am

1) Talk to them about close up photography. How to do it with the current generation of less than two hundred dollars but yet unbelievable specification digicams like the ones I happened to look at last night at Wally World.
So talk about how close the camera can focus on its own and teach them about macro settings. Also show then how to shoot through a simple magnifying glass or some other auxiliary lens to get closer if the camera doesnt have a good macro mode.

2) Show them the miracle of crossed polarisation filters. You can observe all kinds of beautiful effects that way. Bring some cheap polaroid sunglasses to make the crossed polars stage held together with popsicle sticks. Make sure you distinguish between circular pol filters and linear without too much detail. Just the labels maam.
You can recrystallize various chemicals on a microscope slide. You can demonstrate strain in plastic which is very instructive. You can see the non, single or double refraction of gemstones.

3) Give them a good and thorough explanation of how to actually USE a microscope. I have over the years had so many people ask me to fix their scopes that had absolutely nothing wrong with them other than they didn't know how to drive them. Also make sure they leave with the distinction clear in their minds between a stereo microscope and a compound microscope and that compounds come in binoculars but that isn't a stereo.

4) Talk to them about specimen acquisition and preparation. Your friendly neighborhood pathologist can always provide you with actual slides of human tissue. You can buy them from various places too. How to prepare plant tissue , cut viewable sections with a razor , buy prepared slide,
How to find a raise protozoans and other bugz.

5) If you want to get really wild you can round up a hand spectroscope and teach them how to use that which is actually very interesting to kids and many nonscientists. Lots of things to talk about like efficient bulbs and
color and astronomical spectra and fraunhofers lines.

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:31 am

A while ago, I posted a presentation I did for The Friends of our loacal nature reserve - see Macro & Microscopy Articles, there may be a few ideas you can use.

Gary W Brown · Post by **Gary W Brown** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:25 pm

Thanks gp and g4.

I really have my work cut out for me. It's a good thing I have 2 month to prepare.

If there are other ideas/suggestions out there please share. I will compile some sort of list as things progress.

Gary