Tardigrade Resources
This is your resource page for information, supplies, and education for students and teachers. Whether you want to take a course, buy a microscope, or simply learn more about tardigrades from books in all price ranges- you've come to the right place.
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ESSENTIAL BOOKS
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Kids & Teachers Tardigrade Science Project Book inspires action, turning students into budding scientists. Students and teachers alike are offered simple techniques allowing them to find real tardigrades in their own back yards and prepare winning science fair projects
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Kids & Teachers Tardigrade Quiz & Fact Book gives you all you need to know about tardigrades in one place. The quiz style of this book makes learning fun because Q&A coupled with the incredible pictures helps you remember the answers.
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Your Microscope Hobby is all about making Rheinberg filters which allow you to add brilliant contrasting colors to your microscope viewing and photography in a very inexpensive way. Also covered topics include polarization and oblique filter making, as well as other microscope projects. Watch the video here.
Click on the book image to see Smashwords Price
Rheinberg Filters Starter Manual is very inexpensive way to get started making these colored filters. Most microscopic specimens are clear, and you need to add contrast somehow. This 39 page E-book with instructional photos teaches you the Rheinberg method using tools and materials easily obtained at your local office supply store.
Tardigrade and Microscope Supplies
You really do not need a lot of equipment to get started exploring with a microscope. This page has descriptions of all of the essentials. I’m not showing prices which can fluctuate.
Click on the product links or pictures pictures below to get full descriptions and the latest pricing on the items shown.
Student Using a Compound Microscope with Camera Attachment
A compound microscope will give you excellent magnification of tardigrades, once you have them on a slide. The compound microscope allows you to see all sorts of micro-organisms, and a variety of inorganic specimens at high magnifications. Click on the microscope below for description and pricing or click here.
Good Compound Microscope Kit Value
A compound microscope is the only way to see specimens at higher magnifications. The above kit is a good value because it comes with everything you need to get started. Several objective lenses give you many options you will need in terms of magnification. I recommend you do go with binocular viewing, It makes a huge difference when it comes to comfort. Feel free to compare the above scope with others, and look closely at the features.
I also like the Amscope B120C because it has a filter holder under the condenser for more advanced work. Here is a link to the Amscope B120C
Tardigrade at 400x magnification under a compound microscope. Rheinberg Illumination used
You will need an adapter to take pictures with your smartphone. I use this one below:
Salt crystals using Rheinberg red center-stop
Compound Microscope diagram used with permission by Bigstock Photo
High school students using inexpensive dissecting microscopes. Photo used with permission by Bigstock Photo.
The dissecting microscope is the best tool to actually hunt and find tardigrades. By placing a petri dish on the base, you can have a wide field of view and spot tardigrades by lighting the dish from the side and having a black background underneath.
Petri dish on dissecting microscope base. Tardigrade specimens in the water.
I recommend the below dissecting scope. The Amscope shown below has the reversible black and white base plate. This allows easy spotting of tardigrades. The scope also has top and base illumination for all types of specimens. It also has two sizes of objectives, which adds flexibility to your magnification options. Click the image for pricing or click here.
Click the dissecting scope or HERE to get pricing
A dissecting scope is not absolutely necessary to find tardigrades, but it does make finding them a lot easier than using a compound microscope. The reason is because of the distance from the stage to the objective lens. There is very little maneuvering room on a compound microscope, yet on a dissecting scope, the objective lens is quite a distance away from the base.
Hydra using Rheinberg filter with green center stop. Photo using a Compound Microscope.
You really do not need a lot of equipment to get started exploring with a microscope. This page has descriptions of all of the essentials. I’m not showing prices which can fluctuate.
Click on the product links or pictures pictures below to get full descriptions and the latest pricing on the items shown.
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Click on the Petri Dish Image or Click HERE to see pricing
Petri dishes are super useful for viewing yhour specimens right away. You can also set up other experiments and look at many types of plants and micro-critters by using petri dishes. BELOW: Specimens in Petri Dishes
ABOVE: Looking for tardigrades in the petri dish on the microscope stage
Making your own collection of permanent slides is a lot of fun. It can be a little tricky, depending upon the specimen, but things like butterfly wings, pollen grains, mold, hair and fibers, all mount very easily.
My Homemade Slide Collection
Click on the Slides Image or Click HERE to see pricing
Here is why I like these slides. They come with cover glasses, so you don’t have to buy those separately. You’d be surprised to know that some inexpensive slides need to be cleaned before use. These Amscope slides are clean and ready to use.
Click on the Slide Box or HERE for pricing
You will probably want a slide box, to start creating you own permanent slides. This one is reasonable in price for the size.
Here are three ways to make permanent slides. You can use clear nail polish, clear model cement, or the really expensive stuff Cytoseal 60 to make your permanent slides. Click on the below options for pricing.
You will definitely need eyedroppers and a tweezers. Get both types of eyedroppers–the straight and the bent tip kind.
You will determine your preference when you actually start using an eyedropper to transfer a tardigrade to a slide.
Get a fine pointed tweezers, preferably without grooves in the tip. A flat point-to-point surface is needed.
Tweezers Needed to Prepare a Tardigrade Slide
Transferrring a tardigrade from a petri dish to a slide is quite the challenge. I most often use an eyedropper. It takes practice, and you have to let all of the air pout of the dropper before you put it next to the tardigrade and suck it up.
There is another method too. Some like to use the hard to find “Irwin Loop,” which is available from this Etsy shop- these are hand made! You simply catch the tardigrade in the loop and gently lie it onto the slide. Look how tiny the loop is on the end of the rod.
Etsy Irwin Loop Click Here to See in Nicodemus Goods
Teacher Resources
FREE Instant Download
Tardigrade Crossword Puzzle
Audio Book of the How To Find Tardigrades Starter Guide
Only 99 cents!
Listen while you go on your nature walk!Tardigrade Trivia Game Printable
This one-of-a-kind game helps you reinforce the tardigrade science facts in a fun way so you can help students enjoy learning, while giving them something positive to tell their parents about.
Yours to Share with Students These printable PDF files allow you to create your own
deck of Tardigrade Trivia Cards using the standard business card template card stock. This actually allows students to print their own game and play it at home with the family.
Teachers- don't forget to
Grab your FREE copy of “How To Find Tardigrades” starter manual
CLICK HERE How To Find Tardigrades
Note: Above items are included FREE when you take the course:
How To Find Tardigrades (click here to see the course)
Lifecycle of a Tardigrade Infographic FREE Instant Download for Teachers only
FREE Instant Download PDF FILE CLICK HERE
FREE Instant Download PNG IMAGE FILE CLICK HERE
Here is a great take home graphic which can be printed up and used as a bookmark. Feel free to download the image file or download the pdf file above.
Tardigrade Maze Craze - your students will love it!
FREE Instant Download
Click here to download the Tardigrade Maze Craze
Get this free pdf file of this maze for your students. (The answer key will be included for you.)
How To Find Tardigrades Course is here:
CLICK HERE TO PREVIEW THE COURSEExplore the fascinating world of tardigrades with our HANDS ON RESOURCES!
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