National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope Instruction Manual

: June 17, 2024
: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Table of Contents

National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope
BATTERY INFO
CONTENTS
Parts Description
MICROSCOPE SLIDES
PARING SLIDES
BRINE SHRIMP
Frequently Asked Questions
Video- Product Overview
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope

National-Geographic-Ultimate-Dual-LED-Kids-Microscope-
product

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD — SMALL PARTS. NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 3 YRS

BATTERY INFO

BATTERY INSTALLATION AND CHARGING

Battery installation and removal should be performed by an adult.
Use only batteries recommended in this instruction manual.
Be careful to install the batteries with the correct polarity as indicated. Do not mix old and new batteries.
Remove all batteries when replacing.
Do not mix alkaline, standard, rechargeable, or different types of batteries. Non-rechargeable batteries are not to be recharged.
Rechargeable batteries are to be removed from the microscope before being charged. Rechargeable batteries are only to be charged under adult supervision.
Only batteries of the same or equivalent type as recommended are to be used. The supply terminals are not to be short-circuited.
Remove exhausted batteries.

CAUTION: Do not dispose of battery in fire. Battery may explode or leak.

CAUTION: Glass slides and slide covers are very delicate. Please handle with care.

Your slide and brine shimp preparation space should be kept clean, clear, and away from any food storage areas. Place brine shimp hatching station in a location where brine shimp will not be consumed by humans or animals.

Parts Description

Occular Lenses
Focussing Knob
The 2X objective lens doubles the 10X and 25X occular lenses into 20X and 50X magnification.
Top Light
Slide-Holding Clips
Stage
On / Off Switch
Bottom Light

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INSTALLING BATTERIES IN THE MICROSCOPE

Remove the battery cover on the back of the microscope and install 2 AA batteries (not included). Make sure to follow the diagram on the inside of the battery compartment to ensure that batteries are installed in the correct direction. Replace the battery cover on the microscope.

MICROSCOPE SLIDES

Your new microscope comes with 10 prepared microscope slides so you can start seeing cool stuff right away. You also have blank slides and cover slips to create your own amazing specimen samples, using the instructions below.

Here’s a quick guide to things to look for in the prepared slides.

Epidermis of Allium cepa w.m.

This stained sample of an onion skin shows the plant’s cells lined up in rows, with the cell walls and cell nuclei clearly visible. Try looking at an unstained piece of onion skin and see if the same features are visible.

Fern leaf sec.

Rather than using seeds and flowers like most other plants, ferns reproduce by means of spores situated on the underside of the leaves. In this fern leaf section you can see the spore-containing capsules (called sporangium) sticking up from the leaf.

Monocotyledon stem t.s. and Dicotyledon stem, t.s.

Botanists classify flowering plants into two groups: monocotyledons and dicotyledons. One easy way to tell them apart is that the veins on the monocot leaves tend to run straight down the length of the leaf while the veins on dicot leaves branch. Compare a blade of grass to a lettuce leaf to see the difference. The long tissues that transmit nutrients and water up and down the plant are arranged into bundles. The cross-section of the monocot stem shows that these bundles are distributed throughout the stem, with more bundles gathered at the edges. In the dicot stem, on the other hand, the bundles form a cylinder and occur only at the edges of the stem. Can you spot any other differences?

Pollen germ, w.m.

Pollen, part of the reproductive system of flowering plants, comes in many shapes and sizes. The tube attached to each grain of pollen carries the genes that fertilize the flowers.

Hymenomycetes sec.

On many mushrooms the reproductive spores are arranged on gills that radiate out from the stem of the fungus. The pattern of these gills and the shape of the edges of the mushroom cap (wavy, straight, ragged, serrated) help botanists identify different species. How would you describe this sample?

Aspergillus w.m.

Among the few hundred species of mold in the group Aspergillus are the common mold you see on old bread and a variety that produces citric acid, the preservative found in many foods. Mold fungi grow on threadlike structures called hyphae, with the reproductive spores clustered at the tip. Can you identify both of these on your specimen?

Spirogyra w.m.

Though they are not classified as plants, most algae have cell walls and can create chemical energy from sunlight—a process called photosynthesis. Spirogyra are free-floating algae found in fresh water all over the world. They are characterized by long strands of cells containing spiral-shaped chloroplasts—the part that photosynthesizes. Look for the cell walls and chloroplasts in your specimen.

Lichens sec.

Lichens are formed by a partnership of algae and fungi, called “symbiosis”. Typically, most of the lichen is made up of the fungus, with the algae concentrated in the upper portion, where they can gather sunlight to make food for the fungus. The fungus creates a dense upper and lower layer, called the “cortex”, to protect the more loosely organized fungal strands and the all- important algae cells.

Earthworm t.s.

Earthworms have an outer ring of muscle protected by a thin layer of epidermis (skin), with an inner ring of intestine to digest food. The intestine includes a fold of tissue called a typhlosole that increases the surface area of the intestine to allow it to absorb more nutrients. Do you see it?

PARING SLIDES

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARING SLIDES FOR YOUR MICROSCOPE

NOTE: When preparing slides you want to use the thinnest possible sample. Have an adult use a razor blade or sharp knife to cut slices for you to try. DO NOT CUT SPECIMENS WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION.

Wet Mount Slides

The most common way to prepare a specimen is with a “wet mount”, and here’s how you do it:

Place a drop or two of liquid in the center of the slide. The liquid should be larger than your specimen.
Using a toothpick or tweezers, place your specimen on the water droplet, making sure it is not folded or scrunched. Your specimen should be no larger than the cover slip.
Carefully place the cover slip over it by touching one edge of the cover slip to the slide and then gradually lowering the rest of the slip. The idea is to flatten the liquid without trapping any air bubbles under the cover slip.

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If your specimen is not super thin, wrap a piece of tape around the slide on either side of where the specimen will be, but do this BEFORE the water is dropped onto the slide. The extra thickness of this tape will raise the cover slip just slightly.

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You may have to practice a few times to figure out just the right amount of liquid to use. If you have too much, the cover slip will just float on top and not flatten the specimen. Too little, and the cover slip might squash the specimen.
Wet mount slides typically last 15–30 minutes before drying out. You can extend that time to a few days by sealing the edges of the cover slip. Lightly scrape the edges of the cover slip over a small amount of Vaseline petroleum jelly before placing it over the specimen, jelly side down. Press very lightly to seal the slide.

Good things to look at with wet mount slides

Plant material, like leaves, onion skin, flower petals Mold spores from bread, cheese, or fruit
Celery or banana strings
Gills from the underside of a mushroom
Fibers like thread or yarn

Dry Mount Slides

The procedure for making dry mount slides is much the same as for wet mounts.

Use a toothpick or tweezers to place your specimen in the center of the slide. You only need a small amount of your specimen—just enough to fit under the cover slip.
Careful place a cover slip over your specimen to flatten it out. There is no need to worry about air bubbles, so you can just drop the cover slip onto the specimen.
When you are finished examining your specimen, just wash and dry the slide and cover slip to use again and again.
If you want to make your dry mount slide more permanent, you can place a drop of clear nail polish on your specimen and then put on the cover slip while the nail polish is still wet.

Good things to look at with dry mount slides

Hair, fur, and feathers
Small insects or insect body parts Butterfly or moth wings
Cloth
Printed material

BRINE SHRIMP

Your microscope kit comes with a vial of brine shrimp eggs and a hatching station. Here’s how to grow and observe your own shrimp.

Growing Brine Shrimp

Prepare the saltwater for them to live in by adding 1–1½ teaspoons of non-iodized table salt to a cup of water. Stir until all the salt has dissolved. Use only bottled water to prevent any impurities that might keep the shrimp from growing.
Pour a small amount of saltwater into each compartment of your hatching station.
Sprinkle a tiny amount of eggs into each compartment, just enough to cover about ¼ to ½ of the surface of the water.
Move your hatching station into a sunny window. DO NOT COVER IT WITH THE LID. The shrimp need oxygen to survive.
Your shrimp should start hatching in 24–48 hours. They are really tiny, so look for little brown specks that are moving below the surface of the saltwater.

Observing Brine Shrimp

Once your shrimp have hatched, cover the hatching station with the lid and observe the shrimp through the magnifying lenses.
For even more magnification, suck up some shrimp into the pipette and place a few drops of that water onto a blank microscope slide. Cover the droplets gently with another slide, and then remove the covering slide. This will flatten out the water, without crushing the shrimp.
Place the slide on your microscope stage and examine the shrimp with both the 10x and 25x lenses. The shrimp will be swimming rapidly, so you may have to move the slide around to keep them in view.
Your brine shrimp will live for 1–3 days. If you want to observe them for a longer period, feed them by adding a few grains of yeast to the hatching compartments. Also, skim off unhatched eggs from the water’s surface to allow the growing shrimp more oxygen.

Things to Look For

When brine shrimp first hatch, they only have one eye, called a naupliar eye, and an extra set of antennae with fine hairs to help them swim. Do you see the eye?
After about 12 hours, the shrimp molt—shed their exoskeletons—and move into a new stage of development. They will continue to molt until they reach the adult stage, about 8 days after hatching. If you are lucky, you might see one as it molts!
The adult brine shrimp have two eyes in addition to the naupliar eye. They also have 11 pairs of what look like legs. These appendages are called phyllopods and they are not all the same. Some are adapted for swimming, while others are used to scrape and filter algae, which is what the shrimp mostly eat. Can you see any differences in the phyllopods?

Experiments to Try

See what kind of water your shrimp-like best. Place unsalted water into one compartment, and fill the other three compartments with water that has salt at the ratio of ½ teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, and 2 teaspoons of salt per cup of water. Which solution did they hatch best in? Were there any differences between the results after 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours?
See how pollutants in the water affect the shrimp. Once you have grown some shrimp, use the pipette to transfer an equal amount to each half of your petri dish. Then add a different pollutant to each sample. What happens when you add vinegar, dish soap, ammonia, sugar, soy sauce, or anything else to the water? Which pollutant was most toxic?

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope safe for children?

Yes, the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope is designed with safety in mind. However, please be aware of the choking hazard for small parts, and it is not suitable for children under 3 years of age.

How should I handle battery installation and charging for the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope?

Battery installation and removal for the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope should be performed by an adult. Follow the instructions in the manual and use only recommended batteries. Ensure correct polarity, do not mix old and new batteries, and remove all batteries when replacing. Exercise caution with different battery types and supervise the charging of rechargeable batteries.

What is included in the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope kit?

The National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope kit includes optical glass lenses, brine shrimp eggs, a petri dish, slide covers, a brine shrimp hatching station, a microscope dust cover, blank slides and labels, a storage container with 10 prepared slides, an eye dropper (pipette), and tweezers.

What are the main parts of the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope and their functions?

The National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope features ocular lenses, a focusing knob, top and bottom lights, slide-holding clips, a stage, an on/off switch, and a 2X objective lens for 20X and 50X magnification.

How do I install batteries in the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope?

Remove the battery cover on the back of the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope, install 2 AA batteries following the diagram, and replace the cover. Ensure proper battery polarity.

Can I prepare my own microscope slides with the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope?

Yes, the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope kit provides blank slides and cover slips. The manual includes instructions for wet mount slides and dry mount slides, offering guidance on specimen preparation.

What are some examples of prepared slides included in the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope kit?

Prepared slides for the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope cover various specimens such as onion skin (epidermis of Allium cepa), fern leaf section, monocotyledon and dicotyledon stem cross-sections, pollen germ, Hymenomycetes section, Aspergillus, Spirogyra, lichens section, and earthworm transverse section.

How do I grow and observe brine shrimp with the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope's provided eggs?

Instructions are provided in the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope manual for preparing saltwater, hatching brine shrimp, and observing their development. The kit allows for experiments, such as testing different water conditions and assessing the effects of pollutants on the shrimp.

Is adult supervision required for specific National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope activities?

Yes, certain activities like preparing slides with sharp tools or dealing with chemicals with the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope require adult supervision to ensure safety.

Can the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope be used by adults as well?

While the microscope is designed with kids in mind, adults can certainly use it for educational and hobby purposes. It provides a user-friendly experience suitable for all ages.

Are replacement parts available for the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope?

Replacement parts for the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope, such as slides, cover slips, and other accessories, may be available through the manufacturer's website or customer support. Contact National Geographic for specific inquiries.

What should I do if the LED lights on the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope are not working?

If the LED lights are not functioning on the National Geographic Ultimate Dual LED Kids Microscope, check the batteries for proper installation and charge. If issues persist, contact National Geographic's customer support for troubleshooting assistance.