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!
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.