On the Use of Digital Microscopes at Nursery and Primary Schools ★

In this paper we describe and analyze a new user interface program that allows students of nursery and primary schools to use digital microscopes in the Linux environment. Moreover, we want to provide teachers with new ideas for a conscious and effective use of digital microscopes in order to promote the interest toward the scientific exploration of nature in children.In our classes we have used the Intel® Play™ QX3™ Microscope, which is a unique tool to introduce children to technology. This microscope has technical features that make it very effective and simple to use; furthermore it allows, in combination with our software, to observe very small objects directly from the computer screen and realize videos by capturing images in long term experiments.Children can recombine the microscope images so as to produce new graphic objects, modify these images in a creative way and create new multimedia collections of their experiments. In particular, we aim at establishing a link among practical experience, geometry and artistic education; moreover, this tool can facilitate the integration of certified students, hyperactive students and students with deficit and attention disorder, since it can promote their concentration through an operative approach.