Microscope Care and Usage Proficiency
Students will gain useful skills in the proper care, operation, and usage of compound light microscopes. Students will undergo specialized training in microscope care, usage, learn proper maintenance techniques to ensure the longevity and optimal performance of microscopes, and safe handling procedures to prevent damage to microscopes. They will learn to adjust microscope settings properly, focus the microscope correctly, use immersion oil properly, and interpret microscopic images accurately.
- Type Validation
- Level Foundational
- Time Months
- Cost Paid
Skills
Earning Criteria
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Students are required to be enrolled in Microbiology (BIOL 2155).
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Towards the end of the semester, students will be given an assessment that will test their proficiency in these skills. To earn the Microbiology Microscope Care and Usage Proficiency micro-credential, students must complete this assessment with an 80% or higher.
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Each student will individually demonstrate to the instructor that they know how to properly handle, use, and care for a light microscope as well as use the proper oil immersion technique. Each student will be given a microscope, a prepared slide to place on the stage of a microscope, and immersion oil.
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Each student will be expected to carry the microscope properly, set it down, plug it in, and turn on the lamp.
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Each student will be expected to place and secure the slide properly on the microscope’s stage, check the condenser for proper placement, set the width of the ocular lenses for their pupil width, properly align the stained specimen over the light coming through the stage, set the objective lens to the 4X lens when they begin, and use the course focus knob then the fine focus knob appropriately to view the specimen clearly using that 4X objective lens.
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Each student will be expected to use the proper procedure for switching from the 4X objective lens to the other lenses (10X and the 40X objective lenses), being careful to have the specimen clearly focused before moving on to the next objective lens and remembering to only use the fine focus knob once switching to the 40X objective lens.
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Each student must use the proper steps in adding immersion oil to the slide and switching to the 100X objective lens.
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Each student will be expected to have a clearly focused image of the specimen after finishing their work with the immersion oil and the 100X objective lens.
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Each student will demonstrate the proper way to put up the microscope using the proper handling, turning the lamp off before unplugging it, turning the objective lens back to the 4X objective for proper storage, cleaning lenses with optical lens paper and not tissues, Kimwipes, bibulous paper, paper towels, etc.