Homeschool Microscope Lessons
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If you are teaching life science and biology to middle and high schoolers, you’ll be using a microscope. And everyone wants to know How to Make Amazing Observations with a Microscope!
That’s what it’s all about.
Am I right?
You want to see new and amazing things
and you want to see them well.
These lessons will help you and your students learn how to use a microscope properly
and how to prepare specimens on a slide for observation.
How to Observe Objects under a Microscope
Getting started with your microscope can be intimidating-
especially if your only experience was in middle or high school
and it’s been a while.
These next posts will get you started with microscope success!
- The Beginner’s Guide to Using a Microscope– video tutorial on how to operate your microscope! This is the perfect place to start with your microscope activities.
- Observing Onion Cells under a Microscope– tutorial on how to prepare an onion cell for viewing under a microscope.
- 10 Reasons a Digital Microscope is an Amazing Science Tool– digital microscopes come in all shapes and sizes. Learn the benefits of this inexpensive microscope option.
- How to Use a Mobile Microscope for Homeschooling High School STEM– a sweet little microscope that clips to your cell phone camera. This is an inexpensive way to get going with microscopy.
Observing Pond Life under a Microscope
Observing pond water is a microscope classic.
But, how do you get a good sample?
And, once you have the sample, how do you prepare it for the microscope?
These next posts will help!
- 3 Easy Steps to Observing Pond Life under a Microscope– directions for collecting and preparing pond water to find microscopic organisms
- The Beginner’s Guide to Microscopic Life in a Pond– now that you have pond water, what are you looking for? This lesson teaches about microscopic pond life and includes a field guide to common Protists.
Observing Objects under a Microscope
These posts are lessons devoted to various items you can observe under the microscope.
Look for this list to expand as we bring more ideas to life for you!
- How to Capture & View Snowflakes under a Microscope– Be like Snowflake Bentley! Learn how to capture and view snow under your microscope. This one is a total high light for microscope observations!
- How to Observe Salt under the Microscope– how to prepare salt crystals to see them under a microscope.
Resources for Using a Microscope
The list below contains some of our favorite microscope supplies.
Individual lessons will tell you what you need for a specific lab exercise.
But, below you will find some basics you need before getting started.
- LED Light Microscope– this is the one we use and it has some excellent capabilities
- Microscope Camera– honestly, it’s so much fun I can’t imagine not having one to take still photos and videos of our observations.
- Digital Microscope– a nice model for entry level microscope lessons
- Microscope Life Kit– this comes with all the slide prep items, slides, stains, and even microscopic life. This one kit will satisfy all your microscope observation needs!
- Pocket Microscope– this small microscope comes with a smart phone adapter and takes a picture like the one below.
Free Microscope Observations Lab Printable
The Best Microscopes for Your Homeschool
We have three microscopes from Home Science Tools.
I adore them.
We have the compound light microscope,
the stereo dissecting microscope,
a digital camera for those two microscopes,
and a digital microscope.
Self-Paced Microscopy Course for High Schoolers
Microscopic Marvels Online Course
An affordable, year long course devoted to the study of microscopy through hands on observation, research, and scientific journaling. Just $67 for a high school, college prep microscope course that is friendly to out of the box and neurodivergent teens.