The students LOVE these! I just purchased two USB Digital Microscopes from Vernier. Link here We have looked at our skin, hair, finger prints, shirts, and slides of various specimen with our new gadget. I hook it to my computer and then the projector for the whole class to see. I have used these with Kindergarteners and 8th graders and it is a hit with everyone.
When they first arrived, I was concerned because they come with a CD and I want to use them with Chromebooks. They are advertised as working with a Chromebook. The customer service at Vernier is amazing and they walked me through the best Chrome app to use and how to use it. PowerCamera is what they suggested and it is free. (They also tell you this on the Vernier page I linked to above but somehow I missed it when I was hooking these up.)
These are durable and easy enough for young children but powerful enough to excited adults. I have a Donor's Choose project to purchase four more. Link here I love how the images can be seen by an entire group of students. At best. three students can take turns and share a traditional microscope. With the digital microscopes, a group of six can take turns focusing the image and they all can see the image at once.
For my Donor's Choose project, I am purchasing the microscopes on Amazon from Bodelin, the company Vernier purchases them from. This took awhile to research, but Bodelin was great in getting started. Now to get the Donor's Choose Project funded!