Swift Lab Manual: Learning Biology with a Digital Microscope. This Swift Lab Manual is designed with the biology teacher in mind. Created to be used with the Swift Digital Microscopes, this manual provides a platform where teachers can give students the opportunity to discover the wonders of science. Developed in collaboration with TERC, a leader in STEM research, this manual contains 20 hands-on learning activities linked to National Science Standard and Key Textbooks. Each bullet point listed below is a classroom activity. The lab manual provides step-by-step instruction student sheets that are easy to follow and insure the activites are classroom ready for teachers. Background info and activity overviews provide guidance for teacher preparation.

Getting Started

• Microscope calibration
• Understanding Magnification and Scale
• Exploring Microscopic Pond Life

Structure and Function - Comparing and Contrasting Cells

• Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
• Protista and Fungi
• Plants - Elodea Leaf Cells
• Animals - Human Cheek Cells
• Cell Specialization

Structure and Function - From Structures to Functions

• Investigating Locomotion
  • Not All Movement Is Life
  • Methods of Locomotion in Pond Water
  • Paramecium on the Move - Cilia
• Investigating Feeding and Digestion
  • Digestion in Protists
  • Hydra Feeding
• Investigating Reproduction
  • Mitosis

Behavior - Responses to Environmental Conditions

• Salinity
  • Changes in Salinity - Osmosis
  • Amoeba and Salt Water
• Temperature
  • Daphnia Heart Rate and Temperature
• Light
  • Immediate Reactions to Light - Chloroplasts
  • Immediate Reactions to Light - Amoeba
  • Reactions to Light - Pond Protozoans
  • Long-Term Reactions to Light - Populations

Standards Matching

• National Science Education Standards
• California: State Standards
• Florida: State Standards
• New York: State Standards
• Texas: State Standards

Textbook Matching

• BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach
• Glencoe Science Biology (National Geographic)
• McDougal Littell Biology (Stephen Nowicki)
• Prentice Hall Biology (Miller and Levine)