Registering Your Digital Microscope.

You just bought a new digital microscope.  Now you’re wondering if there is an update to the software that comes with your purchase?

To access the latest version of software, you must register your digital product. You may do this by going to the Motic Website and clicking on the support tab, and then click on the "register your digital product." Next, fill out the information requested; such as the DM serial number (which can be found on the CD sleeve),  your email, where you purchased the microscope, and purchased date. 

Once the  information is entered, press submit, and you will receive a confirmation email with your username and password. Now you may login and download the latest version of the software.

What's Living in Your Backyard?

Do you ever wonder what really causes that furry green stuff to grow in a body of water and sit at its surface? Did you ever think that something could be living in that green stuff, more commonly referred to as algae? Microorganisms – defined as tiny one-celled organisms, viruses, fungi, and bacteria – live in buckets of water that have been sitting out too long and places like ponds. For fun, collect some water from your local pond (about 3 cm. deep) and look at it under the microscope. See how many different things you and your family can see! For this experiment and more that you can do at home, visit the American Society for Microbiology’s education page.

CSI: Your Home

Ever wish you were a hard core crime scene detective that put all the clues together, figured out who the bad guy was and led the way to his capture? Well here's your chance to do exactly what a forensics team does during their investigation after a crime.  Investigators look for clothing fibers, carpet fibers, hair, fingerprints, soil that could've been tracked in on shoes and, of course, blood stains.  While it doesn't seem like these things would tell you much about who was where or who committed a certain crime, under a microscope, several details come to light.

Grab your microscope, a magnifying glass, some plain glass slides, some paper and a pencil, samples of hair from people and animals and numerous fibers like wool, silk and rayon, and get ready, you're going to be the next big detective!

Visit Home Science Tools' website for information on how to see and use fingerprints, hair and fibers when solving a crime.

Burgers, Fries and Microscopes

Whether you like it dry, with extra cheese or with the works, a burger is one of America’s staples.  And, of course, it just isn’t a burger unless it comes with a side of crisp, golden fries.  Do you ever wonder what the juicy American classic looks like under the lens of a microscope?  What about all the fixings?  Laurence Zuckerman, Thomas Fellers, Omar Alvarado and Michael Davidson of Florida State University put the infamous crowd pleasers under the scope for a closer look at what we’re eating. Check out what they saw!

The Beaches You Walk On

Sand: the epitome of a relaxing vacation by the water for thousands around the world.  But, what’s in sand? What makes up its grainy texture that smoothes your skin and hurts your eyes?  Dr. Gary Greenberg wondered the same thing when he first started checking out sand under his microscope.  What started with simple curiosity led Greenberg to something beautiful. With magnifications of up to 250 times, Greenberg used acupuncture needles to arrange his specimen and then started photographing it.  The beauty of what Greenberg found left him speechless. “Every time I look through my microscope I am fascinated by the complexity and individuality created by a combination of nature and the repeated tumbling of the surf on a beach,” Greenberg stated to Catalyst in October, 2011. 

Greenberg adds that studying sand doesn’t only make for marvelous pictures; it can reveal the history of a place both geologically and biologically.  For example, a grain of sand from the desert will probably be pitted or covered in pock-marks from where it collided with other grains while a grain of sand from the ocean will have a much smoother surface.

To read the entire Catalyst article, click here.  If you want to check out more of Greenberg’s work on sand, visit his gallery.

Dissect Your Favorite Veggie

Want to get up close and personal with your favorite vegetable?  Have your child pick out his or her favorite veggie (don’t worry, you can do it too!) and start your dissection with a magnifying glass and a child-safe knife.  Have your child locate all the parts of the veggie before cutting it into smaller pieces and examining it with the magnifying glass.  After that, if you want to make things really interesting, discuss with your child how their vegetable adapts to its habitat.  Then, for the grand finale, prepare tissue slides with tissue from their vegetable and check them out under the microscope.  For more science activities with vegetables, click here. 

Your New Microscope...Now What?

Whether it was an early Christmas gift or a purchase for your amateur microscopy hobby, your new microscope has finally arrived.  Now what? You want to check out cells, hairs and anything you can get your hands on, but you can’t figure out how to use this thing.  Let us help you!

Start by getting acquainted with the parts of your new microscope.  After that, master focusing in on an object and your life as the “next big scientist” will become much easier.  When you’re focusing in on a specimen, always start with the scanning objective; if you don’t, you won’t be able to see anything on a higher power objective.  You’ll need to use the coarse knob to focus and, while the image will still be small, you should be able to see something during this process.  Once you’ve focused with the scanning objective, switch to low power and use the coarse knob to focus in on your image again.  Just as before, if you don’t focus in on your specimen here, you will not be able to see anything at a higher power.  Now you’re ready for your high power objective!  Switch to your high power objective and only use your fine adjustment knob to focus on your object.  Once you’re focused, you can adjust the brightness of your specimen by adjusting the diaphragm.

For more information on using your microscope, help with parts of your microscope, tips on drawing your specimen, creating a wet mount and much more, visit biolgycorner.com. 

Identifying Your Swift Microscope

How do you identify your Swift microscope, in case, you need to order parts or service for it? On some of the older Swift scopes, the model may be printed on the head of the microscope, but in most cases, you will find the model on the base plate on the bottom of the scope. In many cases, you will find bulb replacement information there also. If you can't find this information, take a digital picture of it, and send it to your Swift service dealer for assistance.

What is S.T.E.M?

There is a lot of talk and buzz around the term S.T.E.M., but what is it? Simply stated, S.T.E.M. is an acronym that stand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. S.T.E.M. education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where academics are paired with real-world lessons as students apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics in contexts that make connections between lessons learned in the classroom setting to work and community applications. It takes learning and theory to the next level, in which students do not simply learn concepts but demonstrate and apply this learning to application. (Tsupros, 2009) S.T.E.M. programs turn a typical classroom into one that is dynamic, real, and driven by problem-solving, discovery, and investigative learning.

Using your Motic software.

Motic software will allow you capture images, manipulate images, and report out on your findings. The features are user freindly and easy to use. Teachers and students will benefit from the use of Motic software in the classroom.