Before we drove over to my sisters on Sunday I had the last minute thought to put my hand lens in my pocket to show my nephew. Perhaps you're thinking 'why doesn't she just keep it in her pocket all the time?' Well one time through the wash cycle was enough to decide not to do that!
I showed him how to use it in the woods. At first he struggled to get the lichen covered stick in focus and then his little face LIT UP. He was hooked!
It was a bitterly cold day, the kind of day you don't want to linger while someone spends half an hour with their nose in a mossy rock, so we decided we would collect things to study at home.
There was so much to study up close and we all had fun showing each other what we could see.
We discovered that if you hold the hand lens right up next to your camera lens you get a larger view of what you are looking at. The tiny little patch of moss on that stick becomes...
as close as this!
Sam devised a way of looping an elastic band around the lens to hold it close.
It worked really well
and brought the tiny world up close.
It was so nice to see Otis's enthusiasm and he's decided to spend his pocket money on his own lens.
People often refer to their hand lens as a 'loupe'. The one I have is a 10x magnification and that is plenty. Andrea from Wild Meadow gifted me mine years ago. It was the best present ever!
And by the way - it survived it's ordeal in the washing machine. It steamed up inside for a while and I thought it was a goner but I was so happy when it cleared up again. A hardy little adventurer!
