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Today, Bob inadvertently triggered the Great Microscope Revival.
Bob phoned in the morning asking if Nathan still had the microscope he had given as a gift for a birthday (it came as part of a set that included a telescope… the ‘scope’ set, I guess) and if it still worked. “Yes”, I said, and “I think so. Why?”
“You’ll see when I get there.”
Oh no. What wacky thing was Bob into now?
I asked Nathan to get out his microscope, since we knew where it was. Except that it didn’t work and, apparently never had, as Nathan whined to me. File under P.O.S. along with the cheap plastic telescope with painted ‘chrome’ bits.
Well, Bob was on his way to see whatever under a microscope and I knew we had a good, working one so off I was to the basement. I knew it was in a black backpack with Mickey Mouse on it and that the backpack was in a pink laundry basket. I’ve retained that knowledge for more than a year and a half… maybe I’m not losing my mind. (Okay, I am. Just not that bit yet.) Lo and behold, I found it almost immediately and on the top of a pile where it wouldn’t get crushed.
Now the kids are excited.
This is almost as good as new toys.
Emily insists on setting it up, taking the microscope from the backpack and removing the dustcover. Then a cleanup with the little cloth that came with their glasses. Pop in the eyepiece, plug it in and turn it on – voila! It works!
They’re like puppies, all wriggly and shouting excitedly to each other.
After a review of all the prepared slides (frog blood is still the coolest), which included a couple of new ones that Nathan had gotten with his crap set, Emily pulled out the blank slides and coverslips she had received for Christmas. An expedition to the pond was now in order and they’re off, feet tuck into mudboots, and then back before I can finish making one bed.
I gave them a minimal introduction to slide preparation. I haven’t found the books yet that came with the microscope because I have forgotten which box they went into. They are there, somewhere. I’ll need a bit more time to root around for them because the slides we made this morning were only barely satisfactory. And we’ll need some dyes. And some of those slides with the little wells in them. Oh, and maybe a dissecting microscope that you can put a Petri dish on the platform…
In the middle of this, Bob arrives. And what does he want to look at under the microscope? Allegedly, what he shows me are Roman coins which he wants to see more closely, since they are obviously quite worn.
“Bob, you can’t look at those under the microscope. You won’t see anything.”
“What? Why not?”
Then follows a brief explanation of how a light microscope works and how it doesn’t. The kids have moved on making slides of hair and explore the difference of putting a drop of water with the hair or putting it dry on the slide.
Bob is definitely disappointed. He mentions taking the coins to the Smithsonian to be identified. I tell him about seeing Roman coins for sale in Archeology Today for short dollars. He’d probably spend more money in gas going to D.C. than he’d recoup in any sale of three Roman coins.
If they are Roman coins. They were about the size of a dime and one had a relief of a wolf with two babies, but all that could be is someone knowing a bit of Roman mythology and how to antique a bit of metal. Even if they are Roman, think how long Rome endured and how widespread the empire was – I doubt the coins are all that rare.
Bob left, with his coins, off to some coin shop in Worcester. He had some other coins, mostly commemorative ones, from different countries from the early twentieth century and he wanted to see if they were worth something. I’ll be curious to see what becomes of the Roman coins.
The kids, however, weren’t interested in the coins at all. A second expedition had them outside gathering more material to view. They came back with more pond water, a brown leaf and some mud and set about making more slides.
About this time I discovered something very interesting. We could use a digital camera to take photos through the microscope by holding the camera lens to the eyepiece. It’s a bit tricky since it’s not meant for doing that and you have to hold the camera just right, but the pictures did show clearly what you saw through the eyepiece.
Okay, I was more fascinated by that than the kids. I left them to their experimenting and resumed making beds and folding laundry. Every now and again I heard Nathan talking about being scientists and I know that the microscope won’t be put away until the basement room is ready for it as I had planned. They’re having too much fun exploring.
Posted by Barbara 
Posted by Barbara 
Posted by Barbara 