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Microscope Adventure! Unit Study

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Review by Christine Field
Mark & Christine Field were married in 1986 and had the typical dual-career marriage. After practicing law for eight years, Christine left the work force in 1991 to raise the children full time. God has blessed them with four children thus far: three girls and one boy. Three were adopted and one is biological. They live and home school in Wheaton, Illinois, where Mark serves as Chief of Police.

Microscope Adventure is incredibly well done. The adventure begins with getting acquainted with your microscope and learning to properly use and care for it. Using books commonly available at the library, the student then reads and researches all aspects of the use and usefulness of the microscope. A complete course of lab explorations are detailed for the student. Using fabric, hair, dust, flowers, plants, seeds, molds, and common insects, the student explores a wide array of science topics. Kym has included a complete plan for the unit, called Kym's Konstruction Kit. A handy checklist guides the teacher through preparation and implementation of the unit. She has also included a handy prefatory article by Kathleen Julicher and Steve Lambert on “Buying a Microscope.” At the end of the unit, numerous websites are listed to continue the adventure - virtually.
 

Review by Cathy Duffy

Those looking for guidance as to how to get their money’s worth out of that quality microscope they’ve purchased would do well to get Microscope Adventure by Kym Wright (alWright! Publishing) ($17.95). This 90+ page book begins by offering tips on finding quality microscopes at great prices (if you haven’t already bought one). Then it walks students through microscope activities beginning with set-up, clean up, and proper use, continuing through activities with easily accessible items like fibers, dust, crystals, bubbles, cells, plants, seeds, mold, cork, muscle cells and insect parts. Lessons usually direct students to read about the topic in another resource, then poses a series of questions. Lab activity sheets accompany each lesson (sometimes more than one per lesson). These sheets give step-by-step instructions with questions to focus student attention. Simple check-off boxes and lines for brief answers make it easy for students to respond. Students are also frequently required to draw illustrations of their observations. Children as young as fourth grade should be able to complete these activities, but those activities also comprise an excellent and substantive part of a high school level biology lab. Lesson plan pages in the back of the book will be valuable help in preparation. Lab sheets and lesson plans are reproducible for a single family.
 

Review by Rainbow Resource Center

An excellent unit to get children acquainted and comfortable with a microscope - how to use it, and actual investigations with it. Forwards by Kathleen Julicher (Castle Heights) and Steve Lambert (Five in a Row) give suggestions for finding good microscopes at bargain prices. The World of the Microscope (see index) is highly recommended as a basal resource book for this unit. Other resource books from the list of recommended resources should be obtained and available for reference during the course. The unit can be done over a period of time, but it requires a minimum of 42-48 days to complete. Activities look extremely interesting and the accompanying lab sheets are excellent - very thoughtfully constructed. Labs begin with the set up, use and clean up of the microscope. The next several labs teach children to make wet mounts, dry mounts, permanent mounts, and well mounts. Successive labs are spent using the microscope skills just learned to study things microscopic, ranging from fibers to insect parts, with cells, plant parts, and simple cell animals in between. The book also contains vocabulary words, science supplier addresses and phone numbers, answers, and additional helpful tips about microscopes. Just looking through the unit makes me enthusiastic about using it - it looks like the best kind of learning - interesting and fun. I would guess that most children would thoroughly enjoy this adventure with a microscope - gaining invaluable skills for higher level science courses in the process. Children in the elementary grades would need some parental support to accomplish the study; older children could use it independently. Look into this one!
 

Review by Kathleen Julicher

The Microscope Unit will be a very useful one to homeschoolers or to regular schools. Kym Wright has done a great job on it. The lab write-ups will make it easy for instructors to copy for the family as required and then slip the paperwork into the biology notebook. Or students could just use it as it is. The really good part for junior high schoolers is that the labs use materials which usually come with the scope or can be easily gotten, no expensive prepared slides here. Many of these labs can also be used for high school homeschoolers. (I shouldn't say that since I wrote a biology lab manual for high school level, right?) Oh well, this unit on microscopy is really good and a bargain. I definitely recommend it. *Kathleen is a Biologist, homeschooling mom, columnist for Homeschooling Today, & Author of 3 high school lab texts: Experiences in ... Chemistry, Biology & Physics published by Castle Heights Press
 

Review by Tobin's Lab

We used this excellent resource before (and sort of during) a recent Jr. High Biology unit. It is so thorough that I plan to go through it again in a couple of years for another "layer of learning." It’s got tips for buying scopes, supply lists, lab sheets and lesson plans, websites to check out, extensive vocabulary list, field trip ideas, & people to study. I LOVE the way it is sequenced and organized. Students put together a lab notebook with their lab sheets, vocabulary and research report. You will need to spend some time gathering materials and preparing to teach, but the lesson plans are done for you, and the record-keeping is a snap. Designated for 4th grade and up, thought I think you could use it 2 or 3 times between 11 and 17 years of age, at different stages of maturity. Your students will be thoroughly acquainted with their microscope after doing these activities, and will be able to explain to others, which is the definition of mastery! 90 pages.
 

Review by Lifetime Books and Gifts

Age: OLDER, JR HIGH, SR HIGH

Microscope Adventure was written especially for Kym and Mark Wright’s hands-on, no-write son. Kym created lab sheets to help him do microscope labs easily with a minimum of writing, using a system of check off boxes. Using easy-to-find specimens and the 35 reproducible lab sheets, students from about fourth grade through high school learn about microscopic life and scientific methods. This unit study includes hints on buying microscopes and lab materials, the $1 rule of optics, suppliers, as well as people to study, recommended books and websites, and field trip ideas. Lesson plans and information on how to alter them are important parts of the book also. Topics include plant and animal cells, microbes, fibers, mounts, insects, crystals, and drawing observations. The book can be used by home schools or classes.
 

Review by Farm Country General

Using easy-to-find specimens with Lab Sheets provided, it walks students through microscope activities beginning with set-up, clean up, and proper use, continuing through activities with easily accessible items like fibers, dust, crystals, bubbles, cells, plants, seeds, mold, cork, muscle cells and insect parts. Kathleen Julicher says, "no expensive prepared slides here. This unit on microscopy is really good and a bargain. I definitely recommend it." Foreword by Steve Lambert (Five-In-A-Row) and Kathleen Julicher (Castle Heights Press). 4th grade - high school

In a Nutshell

Grade Level:
3-12

Pages:
92

Special Features:
Microscope Buying Guide
34 Hands-on Labs

Resources

Microscopes & Microscopy
Microscope Parts Test
Permanent Slide Mounting
History
   #1
   #2
   #3
Drawing Specimens
   Insects
   Grading System
Microscope Specimens
   Crystals
   Microscapes
   Skin
   Honeybee

Reviews

Review from Kathleen Julicher*:
The Microscope Unit will be a very useful one to homeschoolers or to regular schools. Kym Wright has done a great job on it. The lab write-ups will make it easy for instructors to copy for the family as required and then slip the paperwork into the biology notebook.

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