Over 600 pupils from 18 schools across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Bedford participated in the 2023 Microscopes4Schools Competition with some impressive entries. The competition aims to encourage scientific curiosity in children by connecting the microscopic world to the children’s everyday lives. Priority is given to schools from areas where fewer children may have exposure to science careers, or consider going on to pursue higher education.
The competition is run by Simon Bullock and Jon Howe from the LMB Light Microscopy Facility and is facilitated by the LMB Public Engagement Team. Each school borrows a hand-held digital microscope for two weeks and children take images of biological samples that they have collected. Objects range from insect wings to plant petals. They also take part in a Meet the Scientists session over Zoom in which pairs of researchers from the LMB give a 10-minute talk to share how microscopes work, introduce their work, why it matters to the wider world, and offer the chance for pupils to ask all kinds of questions.
These online sessions with schools were well-received by scientists at the LMB, with 22 researchers taking part. Scientists who take part this year commented:
“I had great fun on this project!”
“I was really pleasantly surprised pupils engaged with it”
This year’s First Prize went to Hartford Junior for their image of a lichen. The school has won a digital microscope kindly donated by the competition sponsors, Brunel Microscopes Ltd. The judges described the winning photo saying:“interesting composition and capture of unusual patterns, good focus and lighting on the pattern”. Highfield Littleport Academy took Second Prize for their image of a butterfly wing. For this, the school received two stereo microscopes. The judges stated: “good composition and framing of object, nice play with depth, great lighting, interesting object and capture of pattern.” The Round House Primary Academy won Third Prize for their image of a green shield bug and received a stereo microscope. This was described by judges as “really interesting capture, good focus and lighting on the object”.
The programme has been well-received by students and teachers alike. Teachers from schools that took part this year commented:
“It was a really positive experience and an opportunity to use equipment that we wouldn’t normally have access to”
“I know all the children enjoyed the event, several commented on it when writing their end of school reports so they really did engage with the opportunity”
“The children loved using the microscope and it has really got a lot of children thinking about science outside the classroom!”
We will be recruiting more researchers across all divisions and facilities who may wish to take part for 2024, sharing the broader range of roles within scientific research to the schools.
For more information on the competition
Previous winners
Winning images from MRC LMB’s 2021 Microscopes4Schools Science Image Award revealed
Reaching further with our 2023 Microscopes4Schools Competition