Permanent Prepared Specimens; Prepare Dry Object/Smear Specimen; Experiments - Edu Science M640X User Manual

Permanent Prepared Specimens

Permanent prepared specimens are
produced from objects that you would
like to look at again and again. The
preparation of dry objects (pollen, the
wings of a fly, etc.) can only be done
with special glue. You'll find such
glue at a local hobby store or online,
identified as "gum media." Objects
that contain liquid must first have the
liquid taken out of them.
How to Prepare a Dry Object
First, place the object in the middle of
a clean slide and cover it with a drop of
glue (gum media). Then place a cover
slip on the object that is covered in the
chemical. Lightly press the cover slip
so that the glue spreads to the edges.
Now you have to let the specimen
harden for 2-3 days. Only then is the
specimen firmly glued so you will be
able to use it.
How to Prepare a Smear Specimen
For a smear specimen, a drop of the
liquid to be observed (e.g., water from
a puddle in the forest) is placed on the
end of the slide using a pipette. Then
you can smear the liquid across the
slide with the help of a second slide.
Before observing, let the substance
dry together for a few minutes.

Experiments

Experiment No. 1:
Black and White Print
Objects:
• Small piece of paper from a
newspaper with a black and white
picture and some text
• Similar piece of paper from a
magazine with color pictures and text
In order to observe the letters
and the pictures, produce a short-
term slide from each object. Now,
set your microscope to the lowest
magnification and use the specimen
from the newspaper. The letters
on the newspaper look frayed and
broken, since they are printed on
raw, low-quality paper. The letters
on the magazine look smoother and
more complete. The pictures in the
newspaper are made up of many tiny
dots, which appear slightly smudgy.
The halftone dots of the magazine
picture are clearly defined.
M640x Microscope Set
Experiment No. 2:
Color Print
Objects:
• Small piece of color-printed
newspaper.
• Similar piece of paper from a
magazine.
Make short-term specimens from the
objects and observe them with the
lowest magnification. The colored
halftone dots of the newspaper often
overlap. Sometimes,
notice two colors in one dot. In the
magazine, the dots appear clear and
rich in contrast. Look at the different
sizes of the dots.
Experiment No. 3:
Textile Fibers
Objects and Accessories:
• Threads from various fabrics (e.g.,
cotton, linen, wool, silk, rayon, nylon, etc.).
• 2 needles.
Each thread is placed on a slide and
frayed with the help of the two needles.
Next, wet the threads and cover them
with a cover slip. Set the microscope
to one of the lower magnifications.
Cotton fibers come from a plant, and
look like a flat, twisted ribbon under
the microscope. The fibers are thicker
and rounder at the edges than in the
middle. Cotton fibers are basically
long, collapsed tubes.
Linen fibers also come from a plant,
and they are round and run in one
direction. The fibers shine like silk and
exhibit countless bulges on the thread.
Silk comes from an animal and is
made up of solid fibers that are small
in diameter, in contrast to the hollow
plant-based fibers. Each fiber is
smooth and even and looks like a tiny
glass tube.
The fibers of the wool also come from
an animal. The surface is made of
overlapping sleeves that look broken
and wavy. If possible,
wool from different weaving mills. In
doing so, take a look at the different
appearance of the fibers. Experts can
determine which country the wool
came from by doing this.
Rayon is a synthetic material that is
produced by a long chemical process.
All the fibers have solid, dark lines
on the smooth, shiny surface. After
drying, the fibers curl into the same
position. Observe the differences and
the similarities.
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Experiment No. 4:
Table Salt
Object:
• Common table salt
First, place a few grains of salt on a
slide and observe the salt crystals with
the lowest setting of your microscope.
The crystals are tiny cubes and are all
the same shape.
Experiment No. 5:
you'll even Production of Salt Crystals
Objects and Accessories:
• Table salt
• A graduated cylinder filled halfway
with warm water to dissolve the salt
• Cotton thread
• Paper clips
• A matchstick or pencil
Add salt to the water until it no longer
dissolves. You now have a saturated
salt solution. Wait until the water has
cooled. Fix a paper clip to the end
of the cotton thread. The paper clip
serves as a weight. Tie the other end
of the cotton thread into a knot around
the match, and dip the end with the
paper clip in the salt solution. Place
the match horizontally on top of the
test tube. It prevents the cotton thread
from slipping all the way down into
the test tube. Now, place the tube in
a warm place for 3-4 days. If you take
a look at the glass after a few days
under the microscope, you can see
that a little colony of salt crystals has
formed on the cotton thread.
Experiment No. 6:
How do you raise Brine Shrimp?
Accessories (from your microscope
set):
• Shrimp eggs
• Sea salt
• Hatchery
• Yeast
Brine Shrimp, or "Artemia Salina" as
they are called by scientists, have
compare an unusual and interesting life cycle.
The eggs produced by the female are
hatched without ever being fertilized
by a male shrimp. The shrimp that
hatch from these eggs are all females.
In unusual circumstances (e.g., when
the marsh dries up), the male shrimp
can hatch. These males fertilize the
eggs of the females and from this
mating, special eggs are produced.
These eggs, called "winter eggs,"
have a thick shell, which protects
them. The winter eggs are very
resistant and capable of survival, even
if the marsh or lake dries out, killing off