Backyard Biotech: Prepared Slides FirstLook

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The best way for us to learn how to use the new-to-us Omax microscope, and to understand what we are seeing, is to take it one step at a time, one aspect at a time.

And so, we spent a few days playing with the microscope’s knobs, eyepieces, camera, and software. While we are nowhere close to understanding the Omax in its entirety, we are confident enough that: we are (now) not going to break things, have a rough feel of what to do, and will be able to navigate around a slide and see something in the microscopic world.

While we intend to prepare and look at “stuff” we have collected, we started with professionally prepared samples, because they are the simplest way to familiarize ourselves with the microscope and the world of really tiny, tiny things.

AmScope 

The interns did a bit of research and discovered that the go-to source for prepared slides was AmScope.

AmScope has a variety of slide collections that cover a range of subjects. Their largest is the 200-slide set of biology-focused specimens (plants, fungi, insects, and mammal parts) mounted onto glass microscope slides. 

The AmSlide slides came packaged in two 100-slide wood cases, and the index of each box was attached to the inside cover. Each sample is preserved in Cedar Wood Oil and sealed by a glass coverslip. Very, very well prepared, indeed.

The wooden cases are very attractive, but we discovered that they are a bit fragile. We noticed quite a few broken tabs when we opened the case for the first time.

Fortunately, none of the glass slides were damaged, but some of them were difficult to remove because they were slotted in at non parallel slots, probably from being tossed around during shipping. We will likely move all the slides to a new box, to make them easier to handle, and to keep them from getting damaged.

Slide Box

While we like the wooden boxes the slides came in, the plastic versions we found would probably be a better long-term choice for housing the slides.

The plastic boxes had a larger clasp, a cork-lined interior, and are stackable. And since the slots are made out of plastic, we’re pretty sure the tabs won’t break as easily as the wooden ones did.

We’ll have to figure out a good way to transfer the slide names from the wooden case to these new ones. We know we are not going to write in 200 names by hand…LOL.

On an interesting side note, we found a couple of metal “old-school” microscope slide boxes at a yard sale. What is odd about them is the length of the slots are too short for today’s standard slides! Kind of a bummer as we really liked the sturdiness of these metal boxes!!! Oh well, I’m sure we’ll find a use for them nonetheless 🙂

The length of a modern slide is 3″, but the slots are for ones which are 2 3/4″…so disappointing!!!

FirstLook

The numbered index of the slides was obviously key to quickly finding the desired labeled slide. Just as important, though, is that all the slides were located as indexed. As this had to be done manually, we can just imagine the person who had the task of slotting in all the samples correctly. Thank you, person dedicated to detail and double-checking!

The AmScope samples were well mounted, clearly stained, and clean. Each sample was also well-centered on the slide which made positioning the slide/locating the specimen/finding the proper focus very easy. 

We chose the “Housefly Body” as the first slide to look at because we kind of knew what to expect. We were not disappointed. At 4X, we were treated to a fascinating view of something many of us don’t bother giving a second look.

Samples

We spent a few hours looking at samples and we only just scratched the surface of what the AmScope 200-slide collection had to offer. We feel this set offers excellent value and enduring quality for the money.

Here are a few full-res images as captured by the 18MP camera on the OMAX scope: 

• Housefly body – 4X
• Tomato Leaf – 10X
• Mammal Skin – 10X
• Paramecium Fission – 40X

Links to items mentioned: 

• OMAX trinocular compound LED microscope
• OMAX 18.0MP USB3.0 Digital Microscope Camera
• AmScope PS200A Prepared Microscope Slide Set (200 Slides)
• Cork Lined Microscope Slide Box (100 Slides)