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Ideas for Using Your Microscope
You have a microscope—now what? With the
following directions you can get started right away
making your own microscope slides!
How to Make Simple Microscope Slides
Learn more about using the Kids microscope by
making simple slides using common items from around
the house!
Materials Needed:
-
clear Scotch tape
-
a few granules of salt, sugar, ground coffee,
sand, or any other grainy material
Making Simple Slides
To make a slide, tear a 2½-3" long piece of Scotch
tape and set it sticky side up on the kitchen table or
other work area. Fold over about ½" of the tape on each
end to form finger holds on the sides of the slide. Next,
sprinkle a few grains of salt or sugar in the middle of the
sticky part of the slide.
You can repeat this with the other substances if you
like, just be sure to label each slide you make with an ink
pen or permanent marker so you will know what's on the
slides!
You can make tape slides with many other
materials as well. Try hair (from pets and family
members), thread and fiber (from carpets or clothing), or
small dead insects such as gnats, ants, or fruit flies.
Label each slide and view them one at a time with your
microscope, experimenting with different magnification.
How to Make Your Own Prepared Slide
Learn how to make temporary mounts of specimens
and view them with your microscope. Below are a few
ideas for studying different types of cells found in items
that you probably already have around your house.
Cork Cells
In the late 1600s, a scientist named Robert Hooke
looked through his microscope at a thin slice of cork. He
noticed that the dead wood was made up of many tiny
compartments, and upon further observation Hooke
named these empty compartments cells. It was later
known that the cells in cork are only empty because the
living matter that once occupied them has died and left
behind tiny pockets of air. You can take a closer look at
the cells, also called lenticels, of a piece of cork by
following these instructions.
© Home Training Tools Ltd. 2005
Materials Needed:
-
-
-
-
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How to make the microscope slide:
Carefully cut a very thin slice of cork using a razor blade
or sharp knife (the thinner
the slice, the easier it will
be to view with your
microscope). To make a
wet mount of the cork, put
one drop of water in the
center of a plain glass slide – the water droplet should
be larger than the slice of cork. Gently set the slice of
cork on top of the drop of water (tweezers might be
helpful for this). If you are not able to cut a thin enough
slice of the whole diameter of the cork, a smaller section
will work.
Take one coverslip and hold it at an angle to the
slide so that one edge
of it touches the water
droplet on the surface
of the slide.
Then being careful not to move the cork around,
lower the cover slip without trapping any air bubbles
beneath it. The water should form a seal around the
cork. Use the corner of a paper towel to blot up any
excess water at the edges of the coverslip. To keep the
slide from drying out, you can make a seal of petroleum
jelly around the cover slip with a toothpick. Begin with
the lowest-power objective to view your slide. Then
switch to a higher power objective to see more detail.
Use this same wet mount method for other specimens
such as cheek cells or leaf cells.
Record Your Observations
Our Microscope Observation worksheet (on the last
page) will help you keep track of what you see and
remember what you have learned. Blanks are provided
for recording general information about each slide (e.g.
wet mount stained with methylene blue). In addition,
there is space to write down your observations and
make sketches of what you see at each magnification
level.
Page 4 of 8
small cork
plain glass microscope slide
slide coverslip
sharp knife or razor blade
water
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