Smart Microscope (lite)

Smart Microscope contains a variety of preloaded slides viewed from under a microscope. The slides show images from multi- and single-cell organisms and plants/fungi. When viewing a slide, Smart Microscope contains pins that users can select, and each pin provides additional information about the image being viewed. For instance, when viewing the “human foot” slide, users can select a pin in the heel of the foot. After selecting it, Smart Microscope informs them that the pin they selected is attached to a tendon, and more information about tendons is then provided. Additionally, users are able to select the slide info button to get more information about the particular slide they are viewing.

Instructional Ideas

1. After lecturing about a topic, teachers can have students further explore the topic by viewing the corresponding, pre-loaded slides.
2. When viewing slides under a microscope, students can compare and contrast what they see under the microscope with the image(s) provided in this app. Next, students can critique the authenticity of the image in the app as compared to the image they are viewing under their microscope.
3. Teachers can introduce a new unit of study by projecting an image of a slide from this app. Next, teachers can lead a discussion about the image that previews the upcoming unit. Finally, teachers can have students complete a K-W-L chart or a journal entry in which they state what they want to learn, or predict what they are going to learn, during the upcoming unit.
4. Foreign-language teachers can have advanced students change the language of the app. Then, when students are viewing slides, they will be reading scientific terms in the foreign language. To assess, teachers can have students describe what they are seeing in the foreign language using a journal-response format.

Screenshots