Critical Focus | Microscopes and the Amazing School of the Future
THE MICROSCOPE
2024, Volume 71:3, pp. 127–138
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/HWZZ7464
AUTHOR
Brian J. Ford
EXCERPT
Where are the microscopes in our schools? Few schools have them, and occasionally teachers show students what miracles they reveal; but they are not a core feature of the curriculum. They should be. We know that children need to master the three Rs (reading, writing, ’rithmetic) but there should be a fourth. Reading, writing, ’rithmetic…, and rotifers. I’d prefer a more all-embracing term for microscopy, but couldn’t think of one starting with R. You might have a better proposal. Students would go to a pond in springtime and use a microscope to learn a dozen microbes. No watching videos here; it’s hands-on experience that the youngsters need. Everyone should understand life for themselves, and this is how we begin to make sense of the secrets of the living world. Most people wouldn’t know a living cell if they saw one. Knowing what life is like under the microscope will teach more about health, and hygiene, and nutrition, and the environment…, than any other single subject. It is the syllabus that is the problem. Education has never kept up with the realities of the outside world, so kids learn all about algebra but nothing about running a home. The principal purpose of learning is to acquire the skills you need to be a functioning adult, and that’s the one thing you never learn at school.
Only complete issues for this publication year are available for $25 each, plus shipping; individual articles are not for sale. To request a complete issue, or for any other inquires, please send email to themicroscope@mcri.org.
Shipping: Unless you specify otherwise, the shipping will be 3-5 day Priority Mail through the United States Postal Service.