Microscopy: Learning Through Discovery
Microscopes allow us to see the tiniest parts of our world and help to enrich our lives on many levels. They’re crucial in medical research, testing, solving crime, and in education!
Microscopes enable students to gain knowledge about the miniature world around them. They learn about the structure of things that we can’t see with the naked eye. These lessons are vital as they teach children about biodiversity as well as numerous other scientific topics. And, it’s an introduction into a world of discovery and learning. Using microscopes can help develop a mind that seeks to see, understand, question, and explore. If a simple magnifier does all this, it’s a little sad that they tend to be quite bulky and expensive. Well, thankfully someone has developed a foldable and affordable version of a microscope that enables learning through discovery.
Introducing the Foldscope
Born out of a desire to create a robust and fits in your pocket version of a microscope, the foldscope is ultra-affordable and performs just as well as conventional microscopes. It has a magnification of 140X and a 2 micron resolution. From that, Foldscope Instruments has grown into an entire company that provides scientific equipment, including the foldscope paper microscope, that enables people to satisfy their curiosity and excitement towards scientific discovery! This is particularly good for children!
Enabling Learning Through Discovery
Go back to the time when you were learning english as a child. What would it have been like if all you learned was grammar? What if you never practiced it by writing or even reading? You would have been bored out of your mind! Just as reading allows us to discover more about a language, scientific experimentation allows children to experience a feeling of discovery as well as the scientific method. Don’t forget that from the time a child is born, he or she is learning through discovery. And, they also develop and learn by sensing the surrounding environment. That doesn’t stop as they get older! It actually escalates and that’s why there are so many problems with children getting bored in schools. But that’s not for this article.
Microscopy is one of the best ways to get children engaged in observation and discovery. Through the lens of a microscope, children get to discover “a whole new world” (who else sang that line?) They get to observe the structure and function of both living and nonliving things, and peek into the building blocks of life itself. It’s one of the best ways to create little scientists. But it isn’t just about them becoming scientists – but rather the experience and mixture of logical thinking, motor development and art involved in the activity. Not only must the little ones think about how the lens moves relative to the dialing knobs – but you can also get them to sketch out what they see. The goal of education is to provide a platform that enables and encourages children to pursue knowledge, and a microscope is a good starting point for this.
Into the Unknown
As we’re not sure what the new normal entails for education and schooling, being able to teach your children at home could be vital to their development. I mean, it already is, but now more so than ever before. It’s amazing what can be done with education online, but nothing will beat the experience of personal discovery. Foldscopes can be found on the official website store or through official local vendors. If you want any advice or suggestions for what else you can do with learning at home feel free to social distantly contact us via our Facebook or website.