Using Foldscopes with Form 3 Students in Ghana
Aug 11, 2018 • 1:13 PM UTC
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meganjef
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A group of students at Kongo Junior High School got the unique opportunity to see for the first time through a microscope. This group of students had studied the micro world previously via textbooks, but due to lack of resources had not had the opportunity to see it for themselves. I was a student from UBC Okanagan in Canada and was in Ghana working with a literacy project to make local stories with students. While working with this project we thought it would be beneficial to the students to also share Foldscopes with them.
The students were given the opportunity to choose whatever interested them to look at through a Foldscope. We led them through preparing their own slides with the materials they had chosen. Following the preparation of slides the students then took their Foldscopes outside to see the micro world for the first time. The students were very resilient as they re-prepared slides, trouble shooting and discovering why they may not have been able to see their specimen the first time. As soon as the first student was able to see their slide clearly they jumped with excitement. There was an immediate crowd of students begging for a chance to see and the whole schoolyard was loud with screams of excitement. There were permanent smiles on all of the student’s faces. Everyone was buzzing around, sharing microscopes, and seeing this incredible world for the first time.
We were then able to attach the foldscope to a phone so that the students could see the image clearly, and we were able to point out aspects of the specimen that we were looking at. They were then able to make connections between what they had learned in their textbooks, and materials that they had found in their own environment.
Finally, we had a conversation with the students about where we could use microscopes to benefit their own community. We came up with ideas including testing water for mosquito eggs, looking at species of mosquitoes or even possibly using them in rural clinics to diagnose disease sooner.
The students were given the opportunity to choose whatever interested them to look at through a Foldscope. We led them through preparing their own slides with the materials they had chosen. Following the preparation of slides the students then took their Foldscopes outside to see the micro world for the first time. The students were very resilient as they re-prepared slides, trouble shooting and discovering why they may not have been able to see their specimen the first time. As soon as the first student was able to see their slide clearly they jumped with excitement. There was an immediate crowd of students begging for a chance to see and the whole schoolyard was loud with screams of excitement. There were permanent smiles on all of the student’s faces. Everyone was buzzing around, sharing microscopes, and seeing this incredible world for the first time.
We were then able to attach the foldscope to a phone so that the students could see the image clearly, and we were able to point out aspects of the specimen that we were looking at. They were then able to make connections between what they had learned in their textbooks, and materials that they had found in their own environment.
Finally, we had a conversation with the students about where we could use microscopes to benefit their own community. We came up with ideas including testing water for mosquito eggs, looking at species of mosquitoes or even possibly using them in rural clinics to diagnose disease sooner.
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