Using a microscope can either be deadly and very frustrating, or enjoyable and fun. Not knowing how to use the microscope, having dirty slides, not knowing how to make wet mounts, and worse, having a nonfunctioning scope is deadly and you will soon be frustrated and furious. Having a functioning clean scope, clean slides and good wet mounts makes using the scope enjoyable....well, almost if you are a little untruthful. I expect you to have an enjoyable learning experience so you must do the following. That is why the following sounds as if I am an OLD GROUCHY GRANDPA which I soon become if all.....even two or three in the lab are  finding scope use deadly. Carefully read, learn, remember, and use the following microscope procedures and we all will finish the labs enjoying ourselves. You must pass a microscope use quiz before beginning to use the scope.  You must pass a quiz on microscope use, how to turn on the light, how to put away, how to carry, determining magnification and depth of field, and making wet mounts before starting the study of cells....see schedule.

Why we ask...demand...you use the following "Microscope Use" procedures. 

• Reduces chance to damage the microscope  and you pay for the damage if you do it.

• Increases your microscope use efficiency .

• Makes your lab instructor much happier  as he/she is in trouble if you damage the microscope.

• The most important reason is it  makes using the microscope fun instead of   pure frustration. 

Microscope Use Procedures

1. Your microscope is in the locker in the bench to the ocean side of your seat. 

2. Use the following steps to gently place the compound microscope on the bench in front of you with the ocular lenses pointing towards you.

   1. Open the door and pull out the drawer that is holding the microscopes.

   2. Notice how the microscopes are placed in the drawer as you must return it/them in the same position(s).

   3. Determine which scope you want.

   4. Use both hands when lifting or moving the microscope(s). The scopes are heavy and dropping a scope a small distance will probably cost you MORE than $500.00. Grasp the microscope by using one hand under the base and the other on the arm/pillar. There may be places built into the microscope to help you grasp. Use them! Do not....Do not grasp the microscope by the stage or the oculars.  PLACE THE SCOPE WHERE YOU WILL USE IT. DO NOT MOVE IT. DRAGGING IT CAUSES IT TO BOUNCE AND WILL RUIN THE SCOPE. WHEN YOU SHARE THE SCOPE, YOU MOVE....THE SCOPE IS NOT TO BE MOVED. OR this may give you a chance to be cozy cozy with someone interesting##!!??@@ 

3. Remove the plastic cover, fold it, and return it to the microscope locker.  

4. Note how the light cord is secured with the rubber band and wrapped as you must wrap this cord and place it in the same position when finished. 

5. Unwrap the cord keeping the rubber band on the cord if one is present.

6. Check to see if the microscope light switch is turned off and the light dimmer knob is at the lowest setting. Turn the light switch off if it is on and place the dimmer switch to the low setting if it is set higher.

7. Plug the microscope into the socket in front of you.

8. Again make certain that the light dimmer is at the low setting. Then turn on the light switch.

9. Put the low power objective in place if someone did not put the scope away correctly. Always move the lower power objective to the use position when finished and putting the scope away.  This means that the lower power objective clicks into position so that it is sticking straight down above the stage condenser lens. Notice that you can move the objective lenses by rotating the nose piece. Rotate by grasping the nose piece and not the objective lenses. 

10. Gently lower the stage by using the course adjustment knob.

11. Get a slide and place it in the slide  "positioner" on the stage. Make certain that the slide is securely positioned by the "swing lever".

12. Move the material over the stage  condenser lens by moving the "positioner" knobs.

13. Use the course adjustment knob to raise the stage until it stops. Do not force it after it reaches the stop.

14. Adjust the distance between the binocular lenses to fit your eyes.

15. Look into the binocular lenses. If you can see nothing, check to see if the light is on and the light intensity is bright enough....adjust by the light dimmer knob. You may have to turn the fine focus knob four or five turns in each direction. If nothing comes into focus, call the instructor and he/she will adjust the scope.

16. Bring the material into clear focus by using the fine focusing knob.

17. Move the slide by using the slide positioning knobs until you have viewed all of the material on the slide.

18. Position what you wish to see at a higher magnification in the center of the stage condenser len...that is in the center of what you are seeing. 

19. Check again to make certain that the material is in focus. If not, bring it into focus by using the fine focusing knob.

20. Increase the magnification by grasping the nose piece and rotating the next power object in place. While doing this, carefully look at the slide on the stage and the objective . If you had the slide in focus, there may not be much clearance between the slide and the objective tip, but they should not touch. 

21. Bring the material into focus by using the fine focusing knob. Only use the fine focusing knob when focusing with the 10X (medium) power and 40X  (high power) objectives. The course focusing knob is to only be used with the 4X (low power) objective.

22. Repeat this above procedure when increasing magnification from the 10X to the 40X objectives.

23. When finished using the scope you must return it using the reverse procedures as when you began by doing the following.

    1. Make certain no slide is left on the scope.

    2. Clean all moisture and materials from the scope.

    3. Make certain the the slide "positioner" is positioned on the stage surface and not extending over either side of the stage.

    4. Put the low power objective in place.

    5. Turn the light dimmer to the low setting.

    6. Turn off the light switch.

    7. Unplug the light cord, wrap and secure it with the rubber band.....as you found it when you began.

    8. Replace the cover correctly. Notice that the cover is form fitted.

    9. Carefully replace the scope into the locker as you found it. USE BOTH HANDS. DO NOT LIFT BY THE STAGE AND OCULARS.

    10. Lock the microscope locker.

Important things to know and remember.

1. Only remove and replace slides with the 4X (low power) objective in place.

2. Keep water off the scope and lenses. Do not move your microscope once it is in the correct location on the table. If someone wants to look into your microscope, you move.... not the scope. The less the microscopes are moved and jarred, the less chance you have of damaging it and the longer they will last

3. Very transparent materials, such as onion cells must be studied under low light intensity and with the iris diaphragm almost closed. If the light is too low, increase by using the dimmer knob. 

4. Increases magnification decreases the amount of horizontal area of the material you are seeing.

5. Decreasing the opening of the iris diaphragm so less light comes through the slide increases the amount of vertical area/depth of the material you are seeing.

6. The amount of magnification is calculated by multiplying the magnifying power on the ocular lenses by the magnifying power on the objective lens.  Objective is 10X and objective is 10X the magnification is 100 times.

   Microscope Diagram

   

The Botany and some Biology 3 Scopes have the light dimmer adjustment on the side of the base and the light switch on the front of the base. Also some scopes do not have the Cord Holder on the arm [pillar]. If you have these scopes, carefully wrap and secure the electric cord with a rubber band. Lay this secured cord along the side of the light source on the top of the base. DO NOT PLACE IT ABOVE THE LIGHT SOURCE!!!!!

Diagrams and Drawings Procedures

• Use 1/2 page for each drawinmg/diagram and its labels.

• Follow instructions for drawing.

• Make straight arrows or lines to indicate labeled structure. Use ruler.

• Print

• Make labels square with page.

• Always place the magnification of the view after the name of the object.

• Do not be an artist who puts your interpretation on your work. Be a scientist and draw exactly what you see. You want to use the drawings to show what life really looks like and not what you wish it looked like.  Draw to scale or neatly make notes to remind yourself the relative size of "things". If you draw the chloroplasts the size of the nucleus and do not indicate this, your drawing will not be useful for review and it will cost you points. 

Example of labeled drawing

Relationship of magnification power and surface area that can be seen on the slide. 

The blue circle represents the circumference of the amount of area that can be viewed ...without moving the slide at the power to the right.

Relationship of aperture of iris diaphragm and the depth of field.

Decreasing the opening of the iris diaphragm so less light comes through the condenser increases the amount of vertical area/depth of the material you are seeing.

How to make a wet mount

A wet mount is usually making a slide of some living organism or tissue. It is mounting the specimen in water between a microscope slide and a cover slip. Use the following procedures.

Making a wet mount of some Moneran, Protozoan or something suspended in water.

1. Get a clean microscope slide and a cover slip.

2. Get two or three drops of the water which contains the object. If you are studying filamentous algae, only remove a filament or two.

3. Place this water on the microscope slide.

4. Place a cover slip over these drops of water.

5. Study the material, using the above procedures.

Making a wet mount of plant tissue.

1. Get a clean microscope slide and a cover slip.

2. Get two or three drops of the water on the slide. 

3. Cut an ultra thin section of the plant material.

4. Place this section in the water that you placed on the microscope slide.

5. Place a cover slip over these drops of water.

6. Study the material, using the above procedures.

Quiz

• Practice

  • This is a remake of the posted quiz. It has a different look, but has many of the same questions. You can check to see if each answer is correct. The scores for questions with one correct answer are straight forward. The scores for questions with more than one answer is correct. These give you a fraction of correct over total answers for each question.

  • I do not think that this should crash with you.

  • I tried to correct the typing and grammar problems found in the previous quiz.

  • Send me email describing problems. I am certain that I have not answered your email. I will get at these tonight or in the morning. I came early today and lost much of what I did by a virus attack. Our viral protection said the virus was caught, but it caused me real big problems anyway.

  • The Microscope Quiz that you face this week is taken from this quiz.