Hello there! My name is Alyssa and I am currently a graduate student in the Applied Marine and Watershed Science (AMWS) program at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). At the beginning of this semester, each student in my marine ecology class was issued a foldscope to use throughout the remainder of the school year.
My first experience with my foldscope occurred during one of our labs. My professor, Dr. Kerry Nickols, brought in some water samples from the Monterey Bay for us to test our foldscopes out with.
First, we had to build them. This has honestly been one of my favorite parts about using my foldscope: being able to build it with my own two hands! I definitely was a little stumped at first, thinking there is no way we are going to be able to construct a microscope from this single sheet of materials. However, the straightforward directions made this task super simple and fun!

After putting together my nifty foldscope, it was time to put it to the test.

My first few tries at viewing something under my foldscope were an epic fail. I struggled to get enough light beneath my slides. After a few failed attempts, my classmate and I decided to band together and use our cell phones for lighting/viewing purposes. After placing his phone beneath my foldscope (as the light source) and placing mine on top (to get a closer look at what we were seeing) we spotted something moving in our water sample!
Turns out we were looking at a cute little crustacean larva. Crustaceans are apart of the phylum Arthropoda; meaning they have hard exoskeletons or shells, segmented bodies, and jointed limbs. Most crustaceans go through a series of larval stages before reaching adulthood. Crustaceans are primarily found in the ocean, forming the basis of the global marine ecosystem.
This little larva was twitching all around our slide, allowing us to capture some awesome video footage!
https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Foldscope-.mp4
I was truly amazed by the clarity of my foldscope and how it was able to function almost identically to a normal microscope. As an aspiring environmental educator, I can’t wait to see how we can utilize these affordable, yet highly effective tools in the future! Thank you to Prakash Lab & Stanford University for coming up with such a neat little tool that can provide many with the ability to explore the wonderful world of science!
Looking forward to my next foldscope adventure, stay tuned!