Digital Microscopy: Fostering Student Scientific Endeavors.

Microscopy is important to the discipline of crop and soil science whereas allowing individual students to closely examine the minute characteristics found on a variety of organisms and elements.  Technological innovations in the realm of digital imagery have made the purchase of moderately priced, yet high quality portable microscopes practicable for students.  These digital microscopes, 200x-400x, enable the student to examine specimens in the field, upload the images onto their laptop computers, and then view the specimens for study afterward in the laboratory or classroom.  It may be supposed, therefore, that student involvement to document microscopic images for various class assignments leads to a better understanding of the material being taught as well as inviting scientific enterprise. For example, the students could be given the task of collecting any number of turfgrass specimens, and then, using the digital microscope, correctly identify the morphological features that are unique to each turfgrass species. Specific instructions may engage the students’ skills at identifying the ligule, auricle, and vernation type of Kentucky bluegrass.   Turfgrass seed identification entails the same principles; students must correctly identify features such as the rachilla, palea, and lemma on tall fescue seed specimens for all due purposes. The high magnification of the microscope image brings to light the uniqueness of each seed variety. Another assignment includes capturing images of the soil fractions-sand, silt, and clay- after sieve analysis; thus, enabling the students to categorize the sand particles into the respective size distribution range from very fine gravel, 3.4 - 2 mm; to the very fine sand, 0.1 - 0.05 mm.  To complete the assignment, students compose the digital microscope images onto a PowerPoint® presentation for instructor review and assessment.    Academic interest, the students own and the educator community in general, is reason enough to propose digital microscopy.