STC Program: Microworlds Two-Use Unit Kit, 3rd Edition

Grades 4-6. In Microworlds, students explore magnifiers, learning that tools like lenses and microscopes can be used to extend the sense of sight to view objects in greater detail. By observing everyday objects with a variety of lenses, students learn that a magnifier must be transparent and curved. Students use a microscope, learn the functions of all its parts, and practice proper lighting and focusing techniques. Preparing their own slides, students are able to view onion skin under magnification. Students turn their attention to living specimens and view 3 microorganisms - Volvox, Blepharisma, and vinegar eels. Observing the structure of these microorganisms, and how they move, feed, grow, and multiply, develops the students' sense of microbial life and interactions among living things and between living things and their environment.