Microscopes- Is Amscope a good brand???

[Um_2_4]

So I just ordered this microscope: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0167T5ATS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I need one for biology for next year and kept putting off on ordering one and then this popped up as 20% off (about $63 I think) so I grabbed it. Anyone have it?? 

Is it a good brand?

 

Any pointers?

I was thinking of buying some more ready made slides? Any favorites?

Any links to easy how tos for making our own slides?

 

Thanks

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by Um_2_4

[amsunshine]

This is a nice kit.  

[Um_2_4]

Thanks amsunshine.

Anyone else have favorite slides or sites/tips ???

[daijobu]

It looks like this microscope has oil immersion?  If so, you can use it to visualize bacteria.  I would suggest doing a gram stain, and growing some fungus on old bread or fruit and staining that too.  

 

Just to be safe, I would order bacteria from Home Science Tools.   HST also has a gram stain kit.

 

The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology experiments has instructions on these stains, but you can also find lots of instructions on how to do gram stains on youtube.   (I recommend printing out the relevant chapters of this free pdf guide before deciding whether to buy.)  

 

To illustrate Brownian motion, you can start with whole milk and dilute it several times before visualizing the fat globules under a microscope.