Microscope recomendations for High school biology?

[Pistachio mom]

Hi everyone,

 

We have a very old microscope that I inherited from a kind friend. It is not working out for me to use this for our biology assignments.  The eyepiece lenses are old and full of debris and I can't seem to get them clean.   I am trying to learn how to clean this, and if possible use what we have. It magnifies up to 500x with one eye piece - and up to 750 x with the other.  I just can't see anything out of it.  It has only one focus knob rather than 2. And I have to use a book light under it, because the light source no longer works....

 

If I buy another one -  hopefully used. Does anyone have any recommendations that have worked for your family or warnings of models to avoid?

 

I am scrolling through ebay and the homeschool classifieds website so far. I am cautious about Craigs list. It has been dangerous in our area.

 

Thanks!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Not used, but we have the one below and it is excellent for the price.  It also comes with a free lab kit that is decent (stuff like slides, supplies for making your own slides, agar, petri dishes, etc.).

 

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/home-microscope

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We bought hte one from Nature's Workship Plus and we are THRILLED.

[Pistachio mom]

Thank you, ladies. I looked at the link above and it looks really nice.

 

For high school apologia biology and advanced high school bio (if one of my kids get interested that way) do you have any recommendations for how strong the magnification needs to be. Most student ones I see go up to 400x or 500x.  Sometimes, I see ones up to 1000x for high school.

 

Since it looks like I am shopping, I want to buy a microscope once, not have to upgrade.

[purplelily]

When I bought ours,  I price around and at that time Sonlight had the best price.  I compared with Nature's Workshop Plus and Home Training Tools.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Thank you, ladies. I looked at the link above and it looks really nice.

 

For high school apologia biology and advanced high school bio (if one of my kids get interested that way) do you have any recommendations for how strong the magnification needs to be. Most student ones I see go up to 400x or 500x.  Sometimes, I see ones up to 1000x for high school.

 

Since it looks like I am shopping, I want to buy a microscope once, not have to upgrade.

 

I do wish I had forked over for the 1000x one they also sell because it would have been cool to have it, but for our uses it would never be necessary.

 

But either way I was impressed with that microscope.  We went to a STEM high school for some microscope demos once and we tried several and there wasn't one that was as good as that.  I bought some inexpensive ones with high powers that were awful because the lighting was terrible on them. 

[daijobu]

I've purchased 2 microscopes from GreatScopes, and I've been happy with the purchases.  If you buy one with 1000x be sure to watch some tutorial carefully on how to switch between lenses.  You don't want to get oil on the wrong lens.  I also recommend a mechanical stage, particularly if you are getting 1000x as it can be very difficult to control a slide with your fingers at that magnification.  1000x is nice if you plan to stain bacteria, otherwise you can do fine with 400x.

[Garga]

I have a microscope with 1000x lens. I've used the oil on it. It's fun.

 

I also have the book "The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments" which has many detailed labs for biology in it. It's not a fluff book at all. The book says we won't need anything beyond 400x for anything in the book.

 

I'm still glad we got the one with the 1000x lens. I bought ours at a local homeschool book fair from someone who refurbishes microscopes. It's not brand new, but not exactly used either. It was fixed up as good as new.

[Reefgazer]

I have a binocular AmScope microscope that magnifies up to 1000X with oil.  It has very good quality lenses and I am able to look at small bacteria with it.

[Tranquility7]

This scope has been amazing for us: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MX03Q0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a built-in camera that was SO easy to set up (just install the included software, then plug in with the included cord), and it allows you to display the scope view on a computer.

 

It does go up to 2000x (oil immersion) but the 800x is plenty good enough. As far as I can tell it is a better scope than the one Apologia recommends, and it is only about $50 more.

 

We are part of a co-op doing Apologia Biology this year, and we hook this scope up to the laptop and then the laptop up to a flatscreen tv, and everyone gets to see exactly what is on the scope at all times. This has been a lifesaver since we only have 2 scopes for 9 kids at co-op. Everyone takes a turn at focusing and such, yet everyone still also gets a constant view of the specimens.

Also, frankly, it is so much easier to look at the laptop or tv screen than trying to look through an eyepiece!

 

[Mom22ns]

I have a binocular AmScope microscope that magnifies up to 1000X with oil.  It has very good quality lenses and I am able to look at small bacteria with it.

 

This is what I have. I got it on eBay. It was less expensive than the SL or HST microscopes that didn't go to 1000X. We enjoyed it. I wish I could sell it to you, but I'm afraid to ship it.

[2_girls_mommy]

I bought one from Home Science Tools for around $200. It looks like it is called the Home Microscope on their site now. I am not sure that is what is was called when I bought it 5 years ago. We took it to co-op to use when she did Apologia Biology last year. It was better than the one the teacher brought on loan from the high school science classes that her husband teaches. So it was definitely enough for our needs.  We've used it at home some, and have two more kids to get through Biology in the future with it.