AmScope M30-ABS-KT2-W Beginner Microscope STEM Kit, White

First and foremost, it works! It's hard to believe you can get 1200X magnification from a microscope kit at this price point ($35.99). Honestly, this was somewhat of an impulse purchase, and not a lot of attention was given to all the features, but we were pleasantly surprised. You get a lot of value for your money. The kit is pretty well thought out. The 5 prepared slides let you jump right in and 7 blank slides let you create your own. With two eyepieces (8X and 20X) and three objective lenses, you get a variety of magnification options from 300X-1200X. It makes sense to use plastic slides and slip covers (and plastic scalpel) for a children's kit. The battery operated light/mirror apparatus along with the various aperture selections provide lots of options to hone in on detail. The instructions are clear and concise. The instructions have a place to record observations at various magnifications. Just what you'd want a budding scientist to do. The only thing missing from the kit is a small pipette. We made a slide of mold from cheese and observed millions if not billions of spores, numerous hyphae, and branching hyphae. We were able to use the microtome (cutter, which is child-safe) and Eosin to get really nice pear preparations with sclereid stone cell clusters that stood out from the parenchyma. We found beautiful, active paramecia and bacterial rods in a planter that had some rainwater in it. All this was on the first day! The slide labels were appreciated too. It's very satisfying to label your specimens with name, stain, and date. The kit's components fit snugly in the plastic mold. The only downside was there's only one microscope and we all had to wait our turn. Even though the recommend age is 8+, our 6 year old was enthralled. This was so much fun we are considering purchasing an adult microscope (possibly with binocular scopes and imaging capability), prepared slide sets, and more staining reagents.

I bought this as a gift for an 8 year old, but spent an entire night playing with it first. It's exactly as described and great for younger kids who show an interest in science. Everything comes well organized in the case and it all fits back in with no issues. All I had to do to get started was install batteries in the base of the microscope so the LED light would work. The light turns on automatically when it's flipped to face the stage of the microscope, HOWEVER, not only does the light flip around, it also rotates left and right so you can aim it properly. So if the light seems to be operating backwards and only turns on when it's flipped away from the stage, you will have to rotate the light first, then flip it towards the stage for it to turn on. Mine came backwards like this and I thought it was defective at first before I turned my brain on and realized it was just rotated upside down. The whole kit makes a great gift. It's a good start for beginners and hopefully sparks more interest in science!

After many hours of research we decided to purchase this microscope for our 6 year old since she has an interest in science. While it is a little smaller than what I'm used to, I think it's a great starter microscope for little kids. This definitely is not the same as the ones you get to use in school / college. This microscope uses 2 AA batteries (I wish it would be an electrical plug instead). There is no on / off button. To turn off you simply rotate the light. And to turn on the, just face the light back up. I would have preferred an actual power button/switch. For a $40 microscope it does it's job. I like that it comes with a case along with a lot of other accessories. I also like that the microscope is metal base, not plastic. This is a great starter kit for little ones, and if the kids do have more interests, we will upgrade to a better microscope. But for now, you can definitely view every single slide clearly. I was able to capture one shot with my phone to show the clarity. Again, don't expect professional grade, see it as a very nice toy for little kids. I think this is a good purchase for kids in elementary school. Edit 3/22/21: grammar

So I bought this as a gift for my niece and nephews we have been doing various science experiments and we've gotten to biology. My niece and nephews range from 3-year-olds to a 10-year-old. The oldest took to it very well and was able to use it on his own the littler ones needed assistance and couldn't really get the microscope to work properly. I was able to focus it and find the specimens under the microscope for them so they could look at it. They absolutely loved finding things in the backyard putting them on the slides and getting to see them underneath the microscope. I even tested the water in my turtle tank hence that nice little creature in one of the images. I would like to purchase more of these so each kid can have their own. But the microscope itself feels cheap. The body itself I think it is metal but it just feels so light. The actual neck of the microscope is plastic so are the dials to move it up and down and the light housing is plastic as well. That being said for the price and how amazing it actually works it's great. This was meant as just a small project for me and my nephews and niece and has only got them excited to do more. When they are older I might invest in a more high quality microscope but for anybody who is looking to do small experiments with children just for the fun of it this was an amazing buy. You have all the tools you need to get started and look at some small things. It gives you a few pre-made slides so you already have something to look at. The next addition we are going to get is to purchase some petri dishes and grow bacteria so that we can look at them underneath this microscope. For the price and the item that you get I could not be happier I would suggest purchasing if you have kids who are curious or you want to do some little STEM projects with them as well. It's a great starter for a cheap price to introduce them.

I got this for my daughter for Christmas next month. I thought I would give it a try since I saw all these bad reviews. This is an amazing microscope for the price and works really well. I have a history of working with them and found it very easy to find the samples on the slides. They also showed up really nicely. The key it to start with the smallest magnification (300), once you have found your sample and focused on it then attempt using the higher magnifications. Some of the slides are not meant to be seen with the highest magnification. Also be sure to clean all slides before viewing as all of ours had dust on them. It will be harder to see anything with dust on the slide. The eye piece also needed to be cleaned because it was dusty. The microscope is metal, the stage is plastic with plastic clips. I did find it a bit annoying that I could not move the stage from side to side, so when viewing I had to move the slide its self. I have not used the hatchery or any of the other things as I am gifting this in a month. Even without using those items I am very pleased with this product. It was better then I could have imagined. I cant wait to make slides with my daughter and see what we can see. I have included some images I captured of each slide with my camera. These are not as clear as they are when viewing it through the scope with your eyes. However I wanted to show everyone that this microscope does indeed work. I found all of the samples with in a matter of minutes besides the corn root (blue slide with small round circles on it all in rows). The corn root is pale yellow, making it hard to see with the light shining on it. So I used the blue light filter to help bring it out better. I hope this helps you all feel more comfortable about making your decision with this brand. The carrying case is a nice plus too.

An okay, cheap microscope for trying out the scientific tool and process. It would probably be great for a particularly scientific young person. Wigglewarts and active adventurers . . . maybe not. I wanted the kids to be able to experience the microscopic world for their science lessons, and the process of preparation and careful use of the table-top microscope while we are educating remotely. Overall everything about it fits the price. My first thought seeing it out of the box was that it was a lot smaller than expected, which makes it harder to use. The chrome looking pieces are plastic and feel flimsy; the "scalpel" blade also seems to be plastic . . . To see if this was an item worth keeping I took a quick look at the prepared slides. I got it to focus fairly well at all three magnification levels with little interference. The slides were a little air bubbly but you could see the detail of the specimens. However, the clarity and color just wasn't spectacular comparatively (* see below). I ended up returning this for lack of quality, which adversely effects the interest in using it. * We had also purchased a couple pocket microscopes which were a huge hit - suited for exploring outdoors as well as desk learning. They have a clearer image (less magnification, but enough for our level of learning) and can go anywhere and produced a LOT of interest, which has led to more self-guided learning. I got some blank slides so they could practice making their own (but they aren't necessary) and it's enough for making science fun for our lessons. Plus they each got their own.

Very good quality for such a good price. It comes with pre loaded slides. It’s easy to focus. We haven’t done the experiments but they seem pretty straight forward. My 9yo got it as a gift and is very interested in it.

Bought this for my granddaughter and she is having a great time using it.

Well built, sturdy, lots of interesting components to study on the microscope itself, and the slides provided are beautiful specimens! Used the x300 magnification on the items pictured, and it's well worth the price paid. Lots of fun, and would recommend to buy it. My 7 yr old and 5 yr old love it!

Not much use for 10 year old. Need expert guidance.

atende ao q se propoe

En el primer momento es difícil de ver las muestras. Una vez ajustado es como una puerta para el mundo microscópico para los niños y adultos. Mi hijo de seis años lo maneja solo y solo prepara las platinas. El producto es de muy buena calidad por un precio razonable.

Very useful