Question: how would you make a poster to show how microscopes work?

Susan Skelton answered on 12 Nov 2013:

Microscopes work a bit like a telescope, but for objects that are very close instead of very far away.

Inside a microscope there are lots of lenses, like the lenses in magnifying glasses. They make the thing you are looking at look a lot bigger, so you can see the detail. Light microscopes can make things look up to 1000 times bigger.

I also use a special type of microscope which uses tiny particles called electrons instead of light. It can make things look up to 500,000 times bigger, so I can look at really tiny things!

You can make a light microscope yourself like this:
1. Get two magnifying glasses and a sheet of printed paper.
2. Hold one magnifying glass a short distance above the paper. The image of the print will look a little bit larger.
3. Place the second magnifying glass between your eye and the first magnifying glass.
4. Move the second glass up or down until the print comes into sharp focus. You will notice that the print appears larger than it does in the first magnifying glass.