Microscope Maths
Measure a cell with a sliding ruler, change mm to µm and use the magnification to find its real size.
About this activity
Students slide a ruler under a cheek cell and an onion cell, read the length, change millimetres to micrometres and divide by the magnification to find the real size. Then they find a magnification and an image size, and practise the unit conversions on their own. A formula triangle sits beside each calculation, and the cells and numbers change every time. The first screen says how the microscope practical fits the student’s exam board (GCSE Biology and Combined Science on AQA, Edexcel and OCR).
How to use Microscope Maths
- Microscope Maths is a free Biology activity for Years 10 to 11 that takes about 12 minutes. Try it on this page on a computer, tablet or phone: there’s nothing to download.
- In a lesson, choose Show on the board to play it together as a class.
- To set it for a class, a teacher shares it and gets a code: students type the 6-digit code at lycolearn.co.uk/join with their first name and the first letter of their surname (no accounts needed), and their scores come back to the teacher.
Students will
- Measure an image with a ruler, starting from zero
- Convert between millimetres and micrometres
- Use magnification = image size ÷ real size, rearranged three ways
Teaching tips
- Good the lesson after the microscope practical, while drawing and measuring are fresh.
- Watch for students who forget to make the units the same before dividing: part 3 is built to catch it.