I am considering buying a set of 20 Foldscope paper microscopes for a group of young people in Botswana to arouse some interest in Natural History, Science and also to encourage them to become iNaturalists… Im an aging, retired Science teacher who misses the classroom a tiny bit and have very limited finances. I would like to hear of the experences any iNaturalists, have had in using these affordable microscopes. https://www.foldscope.com/ Can they be used to get good images suitable for iNat ? How rugged are they ? How long do they survive in the sweaty hands of 10 year olds at 38 degrees celsius ? How did young people respond to being given one ? Any pics of tiny things taken with one, to show the quality of the microscope when combined with a cheap smartphone or cheap pocket camera.? One idea is to buy some for a local museum, which could lend them out for a while to visiting school children ( and their teachers) as a museum activity. I also want one ! Are there any ‘affordable’ alternatives that could do the same job ? Thanks inaturalists,
Not microscopic - but a good sharp picture can be zoomed in - to find at least some diagnostic details.
Looks very interesting. Just dropping this comment so I get informed on information updates. I have been teaching kids for some time now, this would be a great tool … if it works.
One other way you can do this (depending on the phone, only really works for ones with single lens cameras) is with laser pointer lenses. There’s a lot of tutorials online (one example).
I’ve bought a pack of ten pointer lenses on ebay for like $12 and then handed them out to students along with scotch tape to put on phones and it works surprisingly well. The tutorials sometimes show you how to make a bit more complex/long lasting mounts for the lenses. The pointer lenses themselves have been fairly robust.
I had never heard about these before - they seem fantastic. I listened to Manu Prakash’s TED talk (on the bottom of the website). It appears that they were designed for use in Africa and S. Asia as a diagnostic tool for diseases. He says they are waterproof, and quite indestructible, so fairly robust. It can also be used for protection. At the very end of the talk he shows some images that appear to be taken through the microscopes, and makes the link between it and ‘hands on learning’. There is at least one image on the website that appears to show the microscopic view of a plant stem. I really don’t know what the picture quality would be like, as the focusing mechanism is by slightly bending the device. They seem like a great idea.
However, for iNat purposes, microscopic images may not be the best way to get the kids interested. Larger life forms may be the better way to start, but these microscopes certainly seem like a good thing to have around! The library idea sounds really good.
You can see some of the images than can be done with them in their twitter, some are pretty good. But I would think one will need practice to obtain nice photos that can be IDed, so maybe not completely suitable to iNat if you will hand them for a few hours. However, in my opinion they seem like a great tool to motivate the curiosity of the microscopic world. Maybe this one could be an alternative? I think some come with an accessory to attach your phone
Why not just buy some cheap rubber band lenses? You can buy them for about US$3 on Amazon, which is half the price of the FoldScope. They are also probably easier to use and more durable. Unless you’re specifically focusing on micro-organisms, it seems like they would work better for things like bugs or small flowers.
I have heard good things about them from my fellow field science educators. Would you like me to share your question to my Twitter feed? Through Nat Geo Education I am connected to a lot of educator internationally.
Just to make sure I understand, I think you are looking for a tool to engage students rather than capture images?
To engage students but also for myself to get better pics of the insects which are 1 to 2 mm long. Perhaps as prizes for inat activity as well.
Insects that size are often not well known for the iNat community (or any community?). As a prize, it seems ideal!
There is a small Foldscope project on iNaturalist where you can see observations made with Foldscopes. I have a couple of them (older and newer models) but I find it’s not something I personally reach for in my everyday iNatting kit. It does take practice but it is capable of great images. They’re quite durable. In the hands of the right curious kids it can be transformative. I also think it’s more fun and effective to do as a group activity and helps with the learning of the tool and excitement of discovery. The circumstances you describe are exactly what Manu hoped for their use.
A pack of 20 with accessories is $35 plus shipping so not necessarily.
I got one a week ago and it was quite fiddly at the start but once I figured the focusing it is pretty neat.
This is a sample it came with ( rizoma of a fern) and my phone as camera ( didnt even bother using the phone attachment thing)
I still havent tried doing a sample myself.
Both ideas seem great. I am wondering if the lens might pop out of the rubberband over time. My clip-on lens for my phone did that eventually. Now iPhones have 3 cameras so I also wonder how to make that work with a lens - so it could depend upon what phones they have access too. If you have time you might order each and compare how they work with the phone systems there.
As to not much on iNat - we are working on native bees and started the Washington Native Bee Society project too collect all our bees a year and a half ago. At first we had a few thousand, but with writing to people that observed a bee or two, and the help of Dr. John Ascher and others (they showed up as we found the bees they study) it has grown to 15,880 bees already. Once we get to a 100 views of an identified bee the Computer Vision will start to learn that bee. So you can grow your community by talking to your students and when enough views are collected people will hopefully come to ID them.
Here is an African project for this year:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/outdoor-afro-2021-22
You might also check out the student tutorial section in iNat. There are issues with having kids post views they warn about (own dog, garden flowers, etc.) and they have good tips for working with students.
The Foldscope images in the project are really not bad and comparable to cheap microscopes costing much more.
Tony, for microscopic viewing this is a good option. You can’t see diatoms, rotifers etc with an attachable lens on a phone.
Based on this thread, I bought a foldscope to see if it could be used for the programs at our science museum. They haven’t been put through their paces yet in the hands of actual students but my first observation is that you need to make a slide in order to use them. Anything thicker than a few mms would be too big and probably too opaque. You have the same limitations with a Foldscope that you would have with other student quality microscopes.
I also purchased an Easy Macro Lens. I tried it out on a box elder bug. I put the bug in a petri dish on a white piece of paper. You can see the result here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106872991 Not bad and for kids I think seeing details like the red eyes would be exciting.
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