User manual DIGITAL BLUE QX3 COMPUTER MICROSOPE ACTIVITY GUIDE

[. . . ] 1318 Activity Guide Final 03/12/2002 04:19 PM Page 1 Having fun--letting your imagination soar Digital Blue QX3 Computer Microscope TM TM Welcome to the microscopic world. With your QX3 microscope, you are limited only by your imagination. TM What you can do The QX3TM microscope lets you do many things you can't do with an ordinary microscope: See tiny things on your computer. Take the microscope off its base stand for magnified viewing. Combine and create new things using computer tools. [. . . ] A display under the Record button shows the total time since you started the time lapse. The Settings control display now functions as a countdown timer to show you the length of time between snapshots. The display below the countdown tracks the total number of snapshots taken. 2 hours Condensation clouds the top cover. 4 hours Droplets start to form, but we could still see the critters in the background. 6 hours Large droplets make a pretty and interesting pattern on the screen. Pond scum-- the movie We made an overnight time lapse of less than a teaspoon of water from a garden pond. We had expected to get a movie of the little critters zipping around, but we got an even more interesting surprise!Here is what our movie looked like when we began. 8 hours The water drops continue to grow larger and the midges cavort! 10 hours A sparkling waterworld takes shape with shadowy blobs behind it. 12 hours Eventually the screen looks like giant glistening blisters! 8 collecting and viewing -- making a time-lapse movie 1318 Activity Guide Final 03/12/2002 04:20 PM Page 9 Y O U R A C T I V I T Y B O O K Doing it yourself We've shown you what happened when we made Pond Scum-- The Movie. Follow these steps to make The Return of Pond Scum. Adjust the brightness until the image is as clear and bright as possible. How to do it right When you're making movies of things in water, prevent condensation by leaving the lid off the containment dish. This way you can actually see the critters moving around. li ca ghts ac mera . n. To make the time-lapse movie, click the Time Lapse button. While you're outside playing, look for standing water with little creatures swimming and twitching in it. Set the timer to take one snapshot every 30 seconds. Then click Record. Other good subjects Mix some yeast, sugar and water and put a few drops in the containment dish. A spoiled strawberry or other piece of rotten fruit. A worm. Put some in your sample jar or other small container. Let it run overnight. Before going to your computer, put some of the water in a containment dish. To end the time lapse, click the Stop button. TIP: Record a short movie in regular time to see the difference between this and Time Lapse mode. Carefully place the uncovered containment dish on the sample platform. Now you're ready to watch your movie Preview your movie in the small preview window by clicking the Play button. Or return to Main to watch it in the larger viewing area. You can also take the movie to Special Effects and modify it. Making the best of your time If you do a time-lapse movie that will record while you're not at the computer, make sure nobody shuts off the computer during recording. Use the Paint tools to make a warning sign. Print your warning sign and hang it on your monitor. Set the magnification to low. Select bottom lighting. Focus on the smallest critter you can see. me e so to Tak ots sh snap are to . p e com e laps tim your collecting and viewing -- making a time-lapse movie 9 1318 Activity Guide Final 03/12/2002 04:20 PM Page 10 Hungering for more? investigating Main and beyond Import pictures. Delete pictures and movies from your collection. Quit the software. Quit button When you click the Quit button, you'll get a chance to change your mind. You can't quit from within Live View. You need to go to Main to quit. Main buttons Paint button Goes to Paint where you can modify your pictures with cool tools. Special Effects button Takes you to a screen where you can give special effects to pictures and movies. For more information about the controls in Main, press F1 for Online Help. Collection window Look through the pictures and movies in your collection, nine at a time, by using the forward and back arrows. Movies have filmstrip borders. Taking a look at Main Now that you've gathered your specimens and captured pictures and movies, let's explore Main to find out what else you can do with things you've found in the microscopic world. [. . . ] Look through the slides in your show by using the up and down arrows. Click the Cancel button to leave the slide show the way it was. Click the OK button to return to the Slide Show window with your changes. Click the Clear button to completely erase the currently selected slide show. Playing your show Once you are satisfied with your show, click the OK button. [. . . ]