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Rob Vest, a North Douglas High senior, observes while University of Oregon graduate student Ben Lopez, right, points out a piece of material stuck to the wing of an insect. Vest and his classmates were using a Scanning Electron Microscope during Tuesday's class at North Douglas High in Drain. The microscope, seen behind Vest's arm, will be in the school for a week.
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ENLARGE
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An M&M candy is seen on a screen before it is scanned by a Scanning Electron Microscope at North Douglas High in Drain. Objects are coated in a conductive material and can be seen magnified up to 20,000 times closer using the microscope.
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DRAIN — “Do not lean on me,” the sign said.
That’s the only thing science students at North Douglas High weren’t allowed to do to the $70,000 piece of equipment that sat on the back counter of their classroom last week.
North Douglas is one of six Oregon schools that gets to use a scanning electron microscope for a week, thanks to the University of Oregon, FEI Company and a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
It’s the second year in a row teacher L.J. Main has participated in the program.
She said it helps her students in a variety of ways.
The microscope magnifies up to 20,000 times. By contrast, light microscopes can magnify up to 1,000 times.
The scanning electron microscope bends electrons instead of light to focus images, and since electron wavelengths are much smaller than light wavelengths, they can get more detail on smaller objects, U of O graduate student Ben Lopez told Main’s class.
“A lot of things that appear to be smooth to the human eye aren’t at all,” Main said.
That’s the only thing science students at North Douglas High weren’t allowed to do to the $70,000 piece of equipment that sat on the back counter of their classroom last week.
North Douglas is one of six Oregon schools that gets to use a scanning electron microscope for a week, thanks to the University of Oregon, FEI Company and a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
It’s the second year in a row teacher L.J. Main has participated in the program.
She said it helps her students in a variety of ways.
The microscope magnifies up to 20,000 times. By contrast, light microscopes can magnify up to 1,000 times.
The scanning electron microscope bends electrons instead of light to focus images, and since electron wavelengths are much smaller than light wavelengths, they can get more detail on smaller objects, U of O graduate student Ben Lopez told Main’s class.
“A lot of things that appear to be smooth to the human eye aren’t at all,” Main said.
And even though the microscope shows tiny details, it doesn’t show molecules and atoms.
“It gives them a sense of scale,” Main said.
Minuscule measurements like micrometers take on new meaning, since the microscope shows the measurement of the object at which the students are looking.
The students find that insects, plants, spores and pollen are very complex structures, Main said.
“They can play with it,” she said. “They have control over what they want to look at, and it’s nice.”
Rob Vest, a senior in Main’s chemistry class, wanted to look at an insect. The microscope came with more than 80 samples, including bugs and plants.
Vest used the touch screen to pull the image closer and closer, seeing ridges on the insect’s wings, as well as something that had gotten stuck to the wing. Lopez suspected it was a piece of dust or pollen.
Next, the students looked at pollen from a lily plant.
At first glance, it just looked like a blob, but as the image became clearer, it looked more like grains of wheat. A closer look revealed patterns of ridges, and the ridges were made up of what looked like round balls.
“I like how you can zoom in a lot farther than you can expect and it’s still really clear,” senior Justin Johnson said.
Lopez said electron microscopes are usually used by university researchers and by businesses, though universities use even more powerful machines.
Senior Mariah Wilson, an aide in the class, asked what kinds of businesses would need an electron microscope.
Lopez said many technology companies, such as Intel, and research supply companies use the microscopes.
While the scanning electron microscope has left North Douglas High, the Department of Energy grant gave the school a powerful handheld light microscope. Students can hold it against anything they want to magnify, and an image will appear on a computer screen. They can save the images and even shoot video with it.
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
“It gives them a sense of scale,” Main said.
Minuscule measurements like micrometers take on new meaning, since the microscope shows the measurement of the object at which the students are looking.
The students find that insects, plants, spores and pollen are very complex structures, Main said.
“They can play with it,” she said. “They have control over what they want to look at, and it’s nice.”
Rob Vest, a senior in Main’s chemistry class, wanted to look at an insect. The microscope came with more than 80 samples, including bugs and plants.
Vest used the touch screen to pull the image closer and closer, seeing ridges on the insect’s wings, as well as something that had gotten stuck to the wing. Lopez suspected it was a piece of dust or pollen.
Next, the students looked at pollen from a lily plant.
At first glance, it just looked like a blob, but as the image became clearer, it looked more like grains of wheat. A closer look revealed patterns of ridges, and the ridges were made up of what looked like round balls.
“I like how you can zoom in a lot farther than you can expect and it’s still really clear,” senior Justin Johnson said.
Lopez said electron microscopes are usually used by university researchers and by businesses, though universities use even more powerful machines.
Senior Mariah Wilson, an aide in the class, asked what kinds of businesses would need an electron microscope.
Lopez said many technology companies, such as Intel, and research supply companies use the microscopes.
While the scanning electron microscope has left North Douglas High, the Department of Energy grant gave the school a powerful handheld light microscope. Students can hold it against anything they want to magnify, and an image will appear on a computer screen. They can save the images and even shoot video with it.
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
