Sometimes you can have fun and be educational at the same time.


fern leaf
and spores
10X		 fern leaf
and spores
60X		 hibiscus pollen
and stamens
200X		 hibiscus pollen
200X


night blooming
primrose pollen
200X		 swamp buttercup
pollen
200X		 fresh water jellyfish
10X		 fresh water jellyfish
10X


Kleenex tissue
200X		 bannana fiber paper
200X



About the images

The acutal magnification will depend on the size of your monitor and your resolution. The magnification listed below each image is approximate for a small monitor. The field of view is as follows:
  • 10X = 21 mm X 15 mm (7/8 in. X 9/16 in.)
  • 60X = 3.5 mm X 2.5 mm (1/8 in. X 3/32 in.)
  • 200X = 1 mm X 0.8 mm (3/64 in X 1/32 in.)
The fern leaflet is from the Christmas Tree fern.

The pollen photographs turned out to be very suprising. I didn't know that pollen came in all shapes and sizes.

The fresh water jellyfish are kind of rare. They were found in Fishpond Lake which is located just a few miles from my home. I made a movie of the jellyfish swimming and sent it to Tony, who is a Graduate Assistant working at the Teacher Education Center in the Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania. He sent me this information about jellyfish.


About the Intel QX3 microscope

This is one of the best "toys" I've ever seen. Educational, fun, and well under $100.00! The microscope plugs into the USB port on your computer and displays the real time video images on the screen. It is extremely easy to run--my 4 year old son has no problems operating the microscope all by himself. You can take snapshots or make movies. There is even a time-lapse setting if you want to automatically take a picture every couple of minutes!

You should take a look at the Intelplay Web Site.



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