What you’ll need
- A microscope for looking at slides
- A slide ready to view: a pond-water slide with a coverslip. (Pond water, soil sample, leaf litter, etc.)
- A stable table
If your slide isn’t ready, use a blank slide, a coverslip, and a water sample to prepare a pond-water slide. If it’s ready, start with the steps below.
Need a microscope? Compare starter equipment.Set up the view
Put the microscope on a stable table and turn on the light. The eyepiece is the lens you look through. If there are two, move them together or apart until you see one circle. Set the brightness to a comfortable level.
P01 · Photo needed: microscope controls, including coarse and fine focus and the lowest-power objective.
Place the slide and focus
The objectives are the lenses just above the slide. Turn the shortest one into place until it clicks; it is usually marked 4×. This gives you the widest view.
The stage is the platform that holds the slide. Place your ready-to-view slide on it, with the sample over the light opening. Use the slide-holder knobs to move it, or slide it gently if there are no movement knobs.
Look from the side to check the lens has room above the slide. Look through the eyepiece and slowly turn the large focus knob, called coarse focus, until the sample appears. Keep the lens clear of the slide. Use the smaller fine-focus knob to sharpen the image. If the view is blank, move the slide a little and try again.
P02 · Photo needed: slide held on the stage with the sample over the light opening.
Look closer
Move the part you want to see into the center. Turn the 10× objective into place, then try 40× for a closer look. Use the small fine-focus knob at these higher magnifications. Less of the slide fits in the view, so centering the sample first helps keep it visible.
When you finish, return to the shortest objective, remove the slide, turn off the light, and cover the microscope.
What the lens numbers mean
Multiply the eyepiece number by the objective number: a 10× eyepiece and a 40× objective give 400× magnification.
A bigger image does not automatically show more detail; enlarging a blur just gives you a bigger blur. A higher-magnification objective can reveal finer detail, but a clean slide, a thin sample, and careful focus help keep it clear.