Brisbane primary school pupils were in full control of an electron microscope peering at lady beetles and bed bugs this week (Tues, Sept 14).

But they had to arrive at school a little earlier than normal (8am) to fit in with ‘Bugscope’ staff at the University of Illinois, Urban-Champaign, who set up the experiment on Monday evening (USA time).

Bugscope, a free educational outreach program, provides a state-of-the-art microscope resource for teachers that can be readily integrated into classroom activities. The classroom has ownership of the project - they design their own experiment and provide their own bugs to be imaged in the microscope.

Students at Kimberley Park State School in Brisbane were participating in the first known international link between Australia and the USA where students (Years 6/7) are in full control of an electron microscope 15 time zones away.

In collaboration with researchers at Central Queensland University (Bundaberg Campus), these students directed an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) to images of lady beetles and bed bugs.

CQU researcher Dr John Hunt said the Brisbane students controlled the ESEM through a java-scripted window, increasing magnification, exploring focus, adjusting brightness and contrast and capturing images as required.

“The project has provided a dedicated website for the school. Students, teachers and researchers used dedicated chat-rooms to have conversations about the images and how the ESEM works.” Dr Hunt said.

Details about Bugscope are available at: http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ .

Kimberley Park State School teacher Cathy Deklic has been instrumental in developing this investigation for her students.

“My class are happy to be here at 8am in the morning, “ she said.

“They enjoy their science investigations and see this as one more exciting adventure assisted by staff from Central Queensland University.”