amsunshine Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 We are currently looking for a new microscope for dds to use from middle school through high school. I'd like to buy something that could serve them well, even in advanced biology/AP Biology labs. It's my understanding that the labs in AP Bio require "oil immersion microscopy" with a 100x objective lens. I'm aware the AP Bio exam will be changing in the near future (not sure how exactly), but I want to make sure my bases are covered. So, I'm guessing that it would be wise to invest in a microscope with a 100x objective. For those who have btdt, what say you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 If you don't receive a response here, you might consider posting to the hs2coll yahoogroup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Obviously if you really want oil immersion, you'll need to pay more. I bought mine about 4 years ago, and at the time the cost difference was almost nil because I found a close-out from a provider that only had one left of that particular model. Keep in mind though that as a homeschooler, you can't call a class "AP Biology" unless you personally go through the process of getting AP approval for your course. Even if you do all of the AP labs, you can't call it an AP course without submitting to them. You can call it an honors course though, and then have them take the AP exam if you like. Of course the AP exam itself is a paper exam, and you wouldn't have to do oil immersion to have yours do well on the paper exam. I took AP Biology when I was in high school, and we only did one oil immersion slide, and only under supervision. So in the long run, you might be OK without it. I'm doing honors Biology with one of mine, and we did one oil immersion slide just to practice the technique, and that was that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for the reply! Yes, I realize I can't call what we do AP, but I plan on having them do the work and take the test. I had no idea whether the procedure for handling an oil immersion slide or familiarity with what it should be used for might be on a paper exam. Apparently not. Hmm. Well, it sounds like it's probably not necessary, even in the context of completing AP labwork. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I had no idea whether the procedure for handling an oil immersion slide or familiarity with what it should be used for might be on a paper exam. Apparently not. Hmm. Well, it sounds like it's probably not necessary, even in the context of completing AP labwork. Thanks again! It really isn't a big deal. The oil eliminates some of the refractive error at higher magnification. However, most high school biology doesn't need to go that high because you're just looking at basic structures at 400x. If you buy a microscope that doesn't have that, I would make sure that your student is familiar with how it works. That should do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Excellent. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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