Sunday, 28 October 2007
How cool is this?
I was immensely pleased to receive an unexpected comment the other day on my second microbiology film, "Hunt for Paramecium". While I make these films more for my own benefit than anything else (it gives some added direction to my microscopy), I publish them openly, since there's no good reason to make them private. But still I never really expected anybody else to watch them, much less enjoy them. Yet lo and behold, not only has my film been enjoyed by someone else, but by a whole class of sixth graders! It's quite rewarding when something you do almost on a lark turns out to be useful, for education and for communicating an interest in the hobby.
The irony is that right after publishing "Hunt for Paramecium", I was somewhat unhappy with it, since I thought that it gave the impression that microbiology was too difficult. In fact with a slightly more mature sample I had some sixty paramecium swimming around in a single drop, and so I planned a follow-up film, "Paramecium party", to show the other side of the coin. With the move and new job (and with the chance to use my telescope again) though, I haven't used the microscope for a few months now. So this new comment from the other side of the world was just the thing to get me inspired again!
