Palm-Sized Microscope Review

Hey, folks – Tracey here!

Here at Sassafras Science headquarters Blaine and I get to “try out” lots of science equipment to see if it will work for you all. Sometimes it does, sometimes . . . well, let’s just say that it ends up in one of the upstairs rooms at Uncle Cecil’s house. (Read volume two and you’ll understand what I mean.)

Anywho, today I want to share something with you all that has remained in the lab or in our pockets since the day it arrived – the palm-sized microscope.

The Palm-Sized Microscope

Technically this baby is called a currency detection microscope. Here are the specs on it:

• Fits in the palm of your hand;
• Magnifies things 60 times;
• Has LED lights to illuminate the sample;
• Battery-powered;
• Weighs less than an ounce!

In other words, you can take this device anywhere to help you look at whatever your heart desires up close.

Our Thoughts

In one word – awesome!

Now, Blaine and I do have an app on our smartphones that is more powerful, but seriously this thing is fun. It’s lighter and smaller than our phones, which makes it easier to carry around. Plus the Prez’s patent is still pending, so this is about as close to a portable microscope you can get your hands on today.

Blaine and I used it to see the basic structure of cells in a leaf, the individual threads in fabric, and the dots that make up a printed picture. There was a lot for us to check out with the palm-sized microscope.

We did discover a few tips for using it though:

1. Use the light when you look at samples. This makes it so much clearer.
2. Always set the sample on a firm surface before viewing it. Again this helps for clear viewing.
3. Keep it covered in the case when you are not using it so it doesn’t get dusty.

Paige and her family also checked this one out for us. They had read that you could use a phone to take pictures of what you were viewing. They found that although it did work, taking a picture was quite a challenge. They had to take a whole lot of pictures to get two that we could actually use for this post.

All in all – everyone in the Sassafras Science office agrees that the palm-sized microscope is a great tool to have in your science-learning arsenal!

How You Can Get One Of Your Own

Blaine and I reviewed this one from Amazon and on our recommendation, the Sassafras Science team will be including it in the upcoming botany experiment kit, which will be available around the first of the year.

I trust that you all will enjoy this device as much as we did!