apologia biology slides - can you use the brock magiscope?

[Robin in Tx]

If we buy the Apologia Biology slide set, and if we already own the magiscope (no real microscope), will that be sufficient for the miscrope labs? Or do we need to invest in a real microscope?

Robin

[Susan C.]

If we buy the Apologia Biology slide set, and if we already own the magiscope (no real microscope), will that be sufficient for the miscrope labs? Or do we need to invest in a real microscope?

Robin

I'm not sure what kind of microscope you have, but check the magnification. You need it higher to see critters in the pond water, etc. A good test would be to get pond water and see if you can focus and see them.

We got our microscope from hometrainingtools.com. I also bought concave slides that hold liquid better. I had no access to any classes so I had to get all of the supplies myself. It was a huge sacrifice, but both kids have enjoyed having it. My daughter was younger when my son did biology, they actually fought over who got to look first....

There is so much online now, you may be able to get by without buying one. If you email Dr. Wile, he will give you links and ideas for doing the class w/o the microscope. He is VERY sympathetic to limited finances.

[readwithem]

If we buy the Apologia Biology slide set, and if we already own the magiscope (no real microscope), will that be sufficient for the miscrope labs? Or do we need to invest in a real microscope?

Robin

Do you want to borrow my microscope? It hasn't seen the light of day since we moved ;)

[Robin in Tx]

Oh wow, seriously? That would be fantastic, except I'm scared to death of breaking it...

Got to go pick up R from a rehearsal. I will email you later.

[Jeanne in MN]

I'm not sure what kind of microscope you have, but check the magnification. You need it higher to see critters in the pond water, etc. A good test would be to get pond water and see if you can focus and see them.
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I am not familiar with the slides mentioned, but I can attest to how well the Brock works with pond critters. I use ours frequently for pond studies classes I teach, and even on the least magnification we can see scuds and similar tiny specimen. (I love our Brock.)

Maybe you can piece all our advice together and get a better idea of how compatible they would be?

[Jean in Wisc]

The Brock does not do 400X well enough to try using it (it is just impossible to focus), and most science books say the scope should be able to do 400X. Because my dd wanted to go into animal science the year we were doing Biology, I went ahead and ordered the Sonlight scope to be sure she could "do it all." But the number of times she needed the 400X was so minimal (we did Apologia), I've always said that I'm not sure it was the best use of my money. In reality, we did not use the scope that many times throughout the year, and the Brock could have done the job well enough, imo.

On the other side of the argument, in college she was very comfortable with the scopes in the lab because she had used all the nobs, bells and whistles of the Sonlight. The teacher was surprised that the "homeschool girl" had used a microscope just like the ones in their lab and that she was one of the top students in the class.

FWIW!
Jean

[Robin in Tx]

Thanks, ladies! I will see how far I can get with the Brock. We plan to take AP/advanced Biology in a couple of years where the scopes are provided, so maybe I can get away without using one at the first year level.

Thanks, Jean and Jeanne for the feedback on the Brock.
Robin