Can schools really get access to an electron microscope?
Since the time the Learn & Live documentary was made, new technological advances make it feasible for more schools to have access to equipment such as a scanning electron microscope. One of the most exciting projects is Bugscope, a new educational outreach project of the World Wide Laboratory. The primary goal of the Bugscope project is to demonstrate that relatively low cost, sustainable access to an electron microscope can be made available to K-12 classrooms. Participating classrooms have the opportunity to control the microscope to view insects at high magnification. Students and teachers control the microscope using web browsers from their classroom computers. The microscope is housed at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
