Bugscope
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
What is it?
Bugscope is a free educational outreach run by the Imaging Technology Group at the University of Illinois's Beckman Institute. Students collect bugs and mail them to us. Then through Zoom, the class examines their bugs in fascinating detail under the scanning electron microscope from their own web browsers. At the same time, our experts answer their questions via online video and chat.
How does it work?
Sign up here
- Once you sign up, we will review your responses and then confirm your session with you.
- Before your session, ask your students to collect some insects*
- Pack up the bugs your class collects. Click this link for packing instructions
- Mail the bugs to us. Click this link for shipping instructions.
- Once we receive the specimens, we will prepare the insects for viewing on the microscope.
- Then, through Zoom, you and your students can see your bugs under the microscope and tell our experts what they want to see. As our experts go to the specimens students ask to see, students can simultaneously ask us questions both via video and online chat.
Before each session, you and your students prepare with our microscope primer, session preparation page, and FAQ. We can also schedule a test session so you can try it out beforehand. You can also check out our archive to see some of our previously recorded sessions. For the past twenty years, Bugscope has run almost a thousand sessions with hundreds of schools.
After your session, if it was recorded, we will send you a session link and you can revisit your session recorded and photos (if any were taken).
*If you do not have time to collect bugs with your class that is okay we can still have a session with your class! Please let us know and we can prepare a sample with some insects that we have set aside for Bugscope.
Why bugs?
Insects are the right size and work well in the microscope. They're easy to find in schoolyards and backyards. They have great detail at high magnification that most people have never seen. They fit into most schools' science curriculums. And finally, kids are fascinated by bugs!
Testimonials
"The staff that was there to help answer the kids' (and teacher's) questions was invaluable. They were knowledgeable and spoke in a way that the kids could understand. It was also important for us to show the kids that this kind of technology isn't just in the books, it is real, available, and productive." -Horizon Elementary School
"After only using this once, I can see where it will become a permanent part of our curriculum."-Turkeyfoot Valley H.S.
"The most important benefit was the academic rigor these students proved they were capable of accomplishing when given information in an interesting and challenging way."-Melvin Avenue El. School
