Microscopes for Midwest Primary Schools

Primary school students in the Midwest have been given a special gift and can take a closer look at the world around them, thanks to a project sponsored by the Rotary Club of Geraldton.

The Rotary WA Microscopes in Schools Project is an initiative of the Chief Scientist of WA Professor Lyn Beazley and the Rotary Club of Freshwater Bay.  As part of this primary schools are provided with microscopes and activity booklets with which students can study plant structure and soil composition and learn how plants adapt to available water.

Three Midwest Schools, Yuna Primary School, Geraldton Primary and St Mary’s School in Northampton and the Water Corporation will contribute activity books. A Water Corporation Education Officer will also visit the schools to conduct lessons as part of the Corporation’s Waterwise Schools Program.

The Waterwise Schools Program aims to educate students to value water and to understand the need to conserve and protect it. It’s a long term, whole-of-school approach to water education which seeks to change students’ behaviour towards using water.

The Magnifying Microscope Project is supported by the Science Teachers Association of WA (STAWA) an independent association of science educators dedicated to promoting science and science teaching. The project helps primary school students develop a greater interest in science and in exploring the natural world.

Susanne Warr, Science specialist from St Mary's School, welcomed the project. “Thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Geraldton and initiatives such as the Microscopes in Schools Project, primary school students in the Midwest will have the opportunity to explore the amazing world of microscopic organisms," she said.

“Children are naturally keen to explore and study things they normally can’t see with the human eye. Science investigation engages children immensely and it is enlightening to observe their excitement and amazement when learning about living things under a microscope.

"Allowing opportunities to engage and explore from a young age increases their desire to question why things are like the way they are in life.”

Lorraine Jones Yuna Primary School science leader said, "students were discovering a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for science, partly because of the involvement and generosity of groups such as Rotary."

"Our junior room students are looking forward to using the microscopes to observe a batch of frog’s eggs more intensely as they follow the life cycle of frogs.”