ScopeCurriculum produces high-quality, affordable curriculum resources for use with hand-held microscopes. Hand-held microscopes (available from School Technology Resources) are much easier for children; by simply holding the scope in their hand and touching it to an object, they can immediately get a magnified view of that object on a computer or TV screen (and, depending on the model, save the images as well). In a snap, different lenses can be put on the scope to provide different levels of magnification.
The combination of captivating images from a scope and our inquiry-based, user-friendly materials is powerful: students are highly engaged in hands-on discovery. The process allows children the freedom to explore, research, ask questions, and build analytical thinking skills—while at the same time being guided into understanding of meaningful concepts in science. Further, by providing step-by-step instructions for the educator (along with easy-to-understand background information for each lesson), we make it easy to get results; you don’t have to be an expert in the area.
In authoring these materials, Real Curriculum has collaborated extensively with Louisiana State University (LSU), the leader and authority in educational applications of the hand-held microscope. LSU pioneered such educational applications starting in 1992. With ongoing support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for over a decade LSU has spearheaded a national education outreach program that has brought the technology of hand-held microscopes to over 200,000 K-12 students.
