Introducing the foldscope to my family
Feb 23, 2026 • 4:23 PM UTC
Malawi
140x Magnification
Insects and Arachnids
Jimmy Banda
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Hey guys, my name is Jimmy X. Banda from Malawi. I recently attended a workshop where I got to learn about a foldscope. One fascinating thing about it is that I can carry it in my pocket and make observations in nature and be able to question my observations. At the workshop I got a chance to view an ant under a foldscope. It was one of the most mind blowing moments in my life. Like wow, so interesting. I got to find out about the structure that ants use to clean themselves.
When I got home the first thing was to show my siblings the foldscope. My little sisters are 9 years old. They were so fascinated by the ant I showed them and one thing Nellie asked me was "why does it appear so big?"
And my other sibling Glory asked me "what is a sample and why do we see hair structures on the body of the ant?"
I tried to answer the questions and we had a discussion around it. When my mom came from prayers I showed her to assemble and explained how it works. She got fascinated and mind blown. She said "I wish i had this in my time".
I asked all my siblings to have a sample by the next morning and we should see what they're interested in looking at with the foldscope. They brought me 3 mosquitos to see and we mounted it on the foldscope and viewed it together with my mom and the little sisters.
It was such a cool experience sharing science with my family.
When I got home the first thing was to show my siblings the foldscope. My little sisters are 9 years old. They were so fascinated by the ant I showed them and one thing Nellie asked me was "why does it appear so big?"
And my other sibling Glory asked me "what is a sample and why do we see hair structures on the body of the ant?"
I tried to answer the questions and we had a discussion around it. When my mom came from prayers I showed her to assemble and explained how it works. She got fascinated and mind blown. She said "I wish i had this in my time".
I asked all my siblings to have a sample by the next morning and we should see what they're interested in looking at with the foldscope. They brought me 3 mosquitos to see and we mounted it on the foldscope and viewed it together with my mom and the little sisters.
It was such a cool experience sharing science with my family.
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