We are using Lifepaks for 5th grade science next year and I would like to purchase or rent a microscope for my son to use for experiments. AOP has one you can buy for $150, but I was hoping one of you guys would know where I can get one for less money?? Thanks!
I haven't had any luck finding a quality, cheap microscope. I have been looking for many years. We will need one this coming school year so I am going to have to cough up the money and buy one. It appears that the cheap microscopes have poor reviews and the microscopes with great reviews cost an arm and a leg. :/
I wouldn't trust eBay with something like that, but Amazon have some decent microscopes. Do you want a microscope to use for years to come, or just this year? That will determine how much you want to pay. A $50 microscope won't be good quality and will break relatively quickly, so it wouldn't be good for much more than a year or two. On the other hand, unless your son is going to be a professional microbiologist or something, there isn't much sense in paying thousands. At around the $100 mark there are some decent ones, like this ($65-ish, made in China-quality) and this ($115, high quality and will last quite a few years). Anything that says "my first microscope" or "microscope for kids" is going to be lower in quality but probably cheaper too.
I have an MSK-01 that I am willing to sell. I paid around $140 for it and it sells for about that now. I found a site that sells it for about $130 and describes it here: http://www.usmarkerboard.com/Premiere-MSK-01-Student-Microscope/46096 I would be willing to sell it for $95 plus $5 shipping. It is in excellent shape. It was used maybe a dozen times. I have the spare bulb still. I think I have the cover. I will also send you some blank slides and cover slips (I have a LOT of those). If you are interested, let me know.
I think I would like one that will last awhile, since I'm hoping to homeschool longer and have younger kids who will be using it someday. Thanks for the offer, Cabsmom--I will let you know!
I've seen miscroscopes at Costco for around 100 bucks. Not sure about the quality, but Costco usually has good stuff. It only comes in about once a year, I think around Christmas time, though.
