Eye, Magnifying Glass, Microscope

photographs by Bruce Iverson

there is a picture of a yellow daisy.

Eye

There are many ways to look at things around us. You can look at flowers with your eyes and see beautiful colors and patterns.

there is a closeup picture of the flower.

Magnifying Glass

A magnifying glass makes the flower look bigger. You see details that your eye missed.

there is a microscopic picture of small beige ovals covered with spikes.

Microscope

And with a very powerful microscope you can see these spiky balls. They are the grains of powdery pollen that bees collect when they make honey—and that can make you sneeze!

there is a picture of a small spider.

Eye

You might see this orb weaver spider spinning its web in your garden.

there is a closeup of the spiders belly.

Magnifying Glass

Look closer and you can see its head and where its legs attach to its body.

there is a microscopic picture of the spider's head.

Microscope

If you could look at it under a microscope, you might not even know you were looking at a spider's head.

there is a picture of a leaf.

Eye

You can see a leaf with your eyes.

there is a closeup of the leaf.

Magnifying Glass

With a magnifying glass you can look closer at the veins that carry food and water to the plant.

there is a microscopic picture of the leaf's surface.

Microscope

But you need a microscope to see the tiny openings on the leaf that let air in and out.

Vocabulary

microscope:
A microscope is used to see things that are too small to see with our eyes alone. Microscopes can make tiny things look big.

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Activity

  1. Describe the shape and color of the flower and of the leaf. How are the properties different?
  2. Try to guess what kind of food has these properties. The food is red and round. It has seeds on the outside. It is juicy and tastes sweet. What is the food?
  3. Now write a list of properties for an object. Do not name what the object is. See if someone can guess what the object is by reading your list.