K-12 Educational sites

History of Microscopy

The microscope opened our eyes to a previously unseen world. See some of these interesting historical narratives for more of the history of microscopes:

• The History of the Microscope (a brief history, from Microscopy-UK, an amateur microscopy site). Another resource is the History of the Microscope outline at Thought.co.
• Biographical information about Antony van Leeuwenhoek, a pioneer in biological microscopy, can be found at the Leeuwenhoek site at UC Berkeley.
• UC Berkeley also has a short biographical page on Robert Hooke, who's book Micrographia is a classic in biological microscopy.
• For electron microscopy there's The History and Development of The Scanning Electron Microscope, the History of the Building of the 1938 Toronto transmission electron microscope and a brief autobiography of Nobel prize winner, Ernst Ruska.

Old microscopes evidence a kind of beauty that comes from the craftsmanship of their makers. Here are several places to see images of old microscopes:

• The Moody Medical Library's collection of historical microscopes (University of Texas Medical Center at Galveston)
• 19th Century American Microscope Makers (AmericanArtifacts.com)
• Museum optischer Instrumente - Mikroskope (descriptions are in German, by Timo Mappes)
• Antique microscopes & accessories (ARS machina.com)
• Museum of Microscopy (Molecular Expressions, Florida State University)
• The Golub Microscope Collection (University of California at Berkeley)

On-line Adventures in Microscopy

Here are some fun places to visit that use microscopy:

• Cells Alive!
• The Microbe Zoo (Michigan State University)
• The Ant: A Morphological Tour of the Super Organism (Jason Libsch, Wesleyan University)
• WebCytology and Cellupedia (ThinkQuest Contest Winners)
• The Visible Embryo (Sponsored by a Small Business Innovative Research Grant from The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development)
• Fun Science Gallery - Microscopy & Optics

An Introduction to Optics & Microscopy

Optics can be a complex subject for K-12 students. Here are some interesting sites that keep the physics to a manageable level:

• Optics for Kids - Exploring the Science of Light (Optical Society of America)
• How Light Works (How Stuff Works)
• Seeing Exhibits (The Exploratorium)
• Introduction to Optical Microscopy and Photomicrography (more advanced mathematics & science skills required, Molecular Expressions - Microscopy Primer, Florida State University)
• Optical Illusions - the eye is easily fooled (Sandlot Science).

Curricula, lesson plans & other resources

Here are some microscopy and/or imaging related materials for teachers:

• Project Micro (Microscopy Society of America) This excellent site is the work of Caroline Schooley, a retired microscopist, and includes an extensive bibliography. Her work has resulted in a Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) book on microscopy. There are companion exercises to the book at the Minnesota Microscopy Society and at Cornell University.
• Microscopic Adventures (GreatScopes.com)

WWW Resources

These sites include links to other useful microscopy & biology related web sites:

• K-12 Educational Microscopy and Young Scientist Websites (Molecular Expressions, Florida State University)
• Microscopes and Microscopy for K-12 (Microscopy.Info)

Amateur Microscopy

For those interested in microscopy as a hobby:

• Microscopy-UK (probably one of the best amateur microscopy sites out there, with a great deal of helpful information for the new hobbyist)

Buying a Microscope

These links are for teachers or hobbyists interested in advice about purchasing a microscope:

• How to buy School Microscopes (ProjectMicro, Microscopy Society of America)
• Choosing a microscope (Brunel Microscopes)
• How to buy the Right Microscope (GreatScopes.com)