2023 BFY4 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: |
W23: How to implement laboratory projects in microscopy |
| Abstract: |
Laboratories are a great place for projects. Projects give students the opportunity to model outcomes, design experiments, analyze data, construct new knowledge, and communicate their results--all key activities recommended by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in their "Recommendations for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Curriculum". Yet, projects are difficult to implement since time, resources, and instructor knowledge may be limited. Here, we describe how to implement laboratory projects in microscopy in introductory courses (electromagnetism or optics) or more advanced courses (optics, advanced laboratory, or biophysics) with standard 3-hour laboratory periods. To start, we describe the building of a brightfield, compound microscope depicted in many introductory physics textbooks. Building this microscope and measuring its magnification is a standard laboratory activity, but is often tricky for students and instructors. We then describe how to use this as a foundation to build a higher resolution microscope, a fluorescence microscope, or a total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscope. Other possible microscopes are darkfield, reflection, differential interference contrast (DIC), phase contrast, and confocal microscopes. Students would need one laboratory period to build the compound microscope and perhaps two additional laboratory periods to transform their microscope into one of the others listed, creating a perfect 3-week project. The different microscopes give students the thrill of building something new, but the limitation of building a microscope keeps the required parts, time-to-build, and instructor knowledge to a minimum. |
| Abstract Type: |
Workshop
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Author/Organizer Information |
| Primary Contact: |
Ashley Carter
Amherst College
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Workshop Documents |
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