Once the student has been brought to the Microscopy laboratory, the student is placed in front of a lab bench containing five microscopes. These microscopes include a dissecting microscope, compound microscope, scanning tunneling microscope (SEM), and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). A field scope is also provided for observing objects with no magnification or with normal eyesight. The purpose of the microscopy laboratory is to study species, cells, or parts of species using an appropriate microscope and to investigate the types and size of objects that can be viewed by the different microscopes.


To use the laboratory, students select a species they wish to study using the species selector, which then causes a thumbnail directory of microscope images belonging to the selected species to appear alongside the available microscopes. Each species may use a different set of microscopes depending on the size and type of species. Using the collection of thumbnail images, students can then enlarge these images for more careful viewing and analysis using the Live Data display. The essential features of the Microscopy laboratory are described below.


The Microscopes. While each of the five microscopes has a different range of magnification and operates on different principles, the interface for each microscope is identical. Each microscope has a holographic projector located just to the left of it. When a species is selected in the species selector, each microscope that has one or more available images will produce a holographic projection containing a collection of thumbnail images assigned to that microscope. Clicking on a thumbnail image will display the selected image in Live Data. Each virtual microscope produces images that were actually collected or recorded from a “real” microscope of the same type.

Each microscope in the laboratory is used to view different types of objects at different magnifications. The field scope and the dissecting and compound microscopes are called optical scopes and use visual light to view the objects, and the scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes (SEM and TEM) use electron beams to view images. An electron beam behaves like light except the wavelength is much shorter, which allows much smaller objects to be seen with greater detail. Consequently, the SEM and TEM microscopes are used to view microscopic objects, even down to the sub-cellular level.

In addition to the type of radiation used to view the objects, the microscopes also differ by the types of objects that can be viewed. The dissecting and SEM microscopes are used to see the external structure of objects. For example, an SEM scope can see the shape of a blood cell but cannot see inside the cell. A dissecting scope can see the outside of a small insect, but it cannot see what is inside. On the other hand, the compound and TEM microscopes are used to view the inside of things by preparing thin slices of objects and then seeing through the slice. The compound and TEM scopes are good for seeing tissues, cells, and cell structure.


Microscope Image Viewer. Once an image has been selected from a microscope’s thumbnail list, the selected image is displayed in Live Data. Given here is a brief description of each viewer element starting with the image and moving clockwise.

  1. Image Area. The image is displayed in Live Data and can be magnified by clicking the Zoom button.  The image area is used to display pictures, micrographs, videos, and animations.
  2. Contrast. The contrast of the image can be changed using this slider. Changing the contrast is often useful for exposing subtle features in an image.
  3. Save. Clicking on this button will save the image to the lab book.
  4. Labels. Some images will have labels on the image helping to point out important features. This button is used to turn those labels on and off.
  5. Zooming Buttons. The magnifying glass buttons in the upper left corner are used to zoom in and zoom out.
  6. Thumbnail List. The right side of the image viewer contains the full thumbnail list for the selected microscope. The list is used to select different images available for the selected microscope.
  7. Description Area. The description area below the image is used to display relevant information about the image. Metadata about the image is often provided that describes where and when the image was taken and other interesting details.
  8. Image Scale. The image size or image scale is given on the bottom of the image. This is used to show the approximate size or scale of the image or references the image scale already on the micrograph. The relative size or resolution of the image (in percent) at its current zoom level is also shown.
  9. Attribution. The copyright owner or source of the image is shown in the bottom right corner of the image.

Magnification Chart. The magnification chart on the wall shows the capabilities of each microscope in the laboratory either in terms of magnification or image size. Clicking on the chart (as well as charts in the other laboratories) will expand the chart for easier viewing.


Lab Book. The lab book is used to record procedures and observations while performing experiments in the virtual laboratory. Images from the microscopes can also be saved in the lab book where they can be viewed. See the Lab Book help menu for further details about using the lab book.