A microscope used to be very expensive. Now you can get one for 90 Hong Kong dollars, or less, which can give you a magnification of 80 to 120 times. They can be easily linked to your smart phone or computer.
Our team is experimenting with several different models. The one I tested works with a smartphone. Clamp the microscope onto your phone. Align the viewport of the microscope with the lens of the camera on the phone. Align the specimen in front of the lens of the microscope. Find something to support the weight of your phone. Focus the lens of the microscope. And you are in business.
It was interesting to see that some hairs are rounded, while others are flat. And the same hair can be partly straight and partly flat. My wife explains to me that this is why some people have naturally curly hair - flat hair curl easier than rounded hair. So that is why.
I can imagine shipping the same microscopes to Asian and African kids. Then having African kids with curly hair examine their hair under the microscope, having Asian kid examine their straight hair under the microscope, and exchange their hairs for cross-examination. Then they would see with their own eyes why some would have curly hair while others are straight, and some are in between. The next question maybe: why do some have flat hair while others are rounded? And that is just the hair.
That would be an interesting, hands-on scientific study of ethnicity. Just one of the many exciting things we can do to make STEM fun through service-learning. With little cost but imagination and willingness to work.
Stay tuned.
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