This biological microscope with a digital eyepiece and a library of prepared micro specimens is intended for school biology classrooms and for laboratories of higher education institutions. It is used to study the microscopic structure of living organisms, cells, tissues and other small objects, and the prepared slides cover the anatomy of the stem, the root, the leaf and other biological material. The digital eyepiece lets the teacher put the image of a specimen on a computer screen while explaining the material to the whole class, while a student works through the slides at an individual workplace, so the set suits both demonstration and individual laboratory work. The recommended age of students is from 10 years, that is grade 5 and above, and the microscope is used under the guidance of a teacher.
The instrument is a monocular optical biological microscope with a revolving nosepiece carrying three objectives of 4x, 10x and 40x and a 10x optical eyepiece with an 18 mm entrance pupil; the numerical aperture of the 10x objective is 0.25. The digital eyepiece is a camera that passes the image to a PC over USB together with software compatible with the PC operating system for viewing, photographing and exporting images, and the optical and digital channels together give a total magnification of 40x to 1280x. Depth of field at 40x magnification is approximately 0.5 micrometre, the working distance at the highest magnification is 5 mm and the specimen under the objective may be 3 mm thick. The coarse focus screw travels 10 mm per turn and the fine focus screw 0.1 mm per turn. Illumination comes from a 1 W LED lamp with an Abbe reflector and smooth brightness adjustment from 0 to 100 %, fed from a 220 V mains through a 3 to 6 V adapter. The body is cast iron with a powder coating and the stage is fixed, with an aperture for the light path and clips that hold the slide. The assembled microscope measures 15 x 12 x 30 cm and weighs 2.5 kg, it operates in the premises of an education institution at air temperature from +5 to +40 degrees Celsius and relative humidity from 40 to 60 % without condensate, the service life is 5 years and the warranty period is 12 months. Marking and operating documentation are in Ukrainian, and the product is marked with the trade mark, the model and a place for the inventory number.
The set includes the monocular biological microscope with the digital eyepiece at 40x to 1280x magnification, three objectives on the revolving nosepiece of 4x, 10x and 40x, a 10x optical eyepiece, an LED lamp with a brightness regulator, a power adapter from 220 V to 3 to 6 V, a USB cable with software for the digital eyepiece, a slide set “Cytology. Histology. Genetics” of 21 specimens, a slide set “Bacteria. Protists. Plants. Fungi” of 25 preparations, a slide set “Zoology” of 14 specimens, a slide set “General Biology” of 25 preparations, and a micro specimen preparation kit that holds 10 unpolished slides, 20 cover glasses, a dissecting set with dissecting needles, a scalpel and tweezers, and 2 microfibre cloths. Delivery also carries a methodological guide to laboratory work, the passport with the warranty card, individual transport packaging in a corrugated cardboard box with content fixing, and the access right to the online course. The slides are permanent prepared specimens and need no preparation before the lesson. Dyes, reagents for preparing specimens and an onion bulb for germination are not part of the set; before the first use the microscope is connected to a computer with the USB cable and the power adapter is plugged into the mains.
The product carries the right of access to an online teaching support course hosted in a learning management system and designed for 70 academic hours of lessons, compiled for the current programmes of general secondary education institutions of Ukraine. The material is grouped into research modules in the subjects physics, biology, chemistry and STEM, and every topic holds a lesson plan, a list of the equipment required, a scenario for conducting the experiment, a step by step instruction for the laboratory work with an explanation of the expected result, a video demonstration of the working techniques, and interactive exercises and tasks for independent study, suitable for individual and for group work. All modules were compiled for this same equipment and verified on it, so the course runs along a direct chain from the unit of equipment to the method of its use to the expected learning results.
The kit includes an AI assistant built into the learning management system on retrieval-augmented generation. It selects research tasks and experiments matching the topic of the lesson, describes the procedure of the experiment step by step, identifies typical student errors and gives personalised recommendations for correcting them, adapts task difficulty to different levels of student preparation, supports students in compiling reports on research results and in structuring the conclusions drawn from experiments, and works on a localised knowledge base aligned with the national curriculum of Ukraine. The licence for the course and the software is valid for 12 months; content, interface and learning materials are in Ukrainian. The course account is issued by the education institution and the licence term is counted from the date the access is handed over.
Place the microscope on a level stable surface 50 mm from the edge of the table, set the brightness regulator to the middle position at the first switching on and bring the 4x objective under the eyepiece. Start observation at the smallest magnification and lower the objective slowly with the coarse screw until the image appears, move to 10x when more detail is needed and use only the fine screw at 40x, raising the coarse screw before every change of objective. Do not look into the light source before a specimen is placed under the objective, take breaks of 10 to 15 minutes during long observation, and do not touch the optical surfaces with fingers. Wipe the body with a soft dry cloth, clean the lenses with the microfibre cloths and an alcohol free lens fluid, and clean the stage after each use without abrasives or solvents. Students work under the supervision of an adult, the microscope is carried with two hands and the light is switched off and the instrument left to cool for 10 to 15 minutes after work. Store the microscope upright in a dry room at temperature from +5 to +40 degrees Celsius and humidity to 80 %, away from direct sunlight, heat sources and vibration, and transport it in the original packaging with cushioning material.
