About us
Microscopes 4 Schools is a hands-on science outreach initiative for primary school children created by scientists and the Public Engagement Team at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
M4S includes
How it started
Microscopes 4 Schools began with a casual chat about how great it would be to take microscopes to primary schools and show cells to children. It’s probably not an overstatement to say that all biologists cherish their memories of the first time they looked down a microscope. Discovering the microscopic world is an amazing experience and we wanted to share it with as many children as possible.
The founders of M4S, Simon and Isabel, put their ideas onto paper and came up with a project for an outreach activity for primary schools. They were lucky to have generous financial support from the MRC and the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, who were equally excited about taking cell biology and microscopes to the classroom.
M4S founders, Isabel and Simon on a school trip to Coleville Primary School in 2011.
Out and about
The Microscopes 4 Schools team contribute to several public engagement activities in Cambridge and surrounding areas with activities showing the importance of microscopes in research.
Thanks to their family-friendly hands-on activities, people of all ages discover the hidden beauty of the microscopic world.
Participants can see their own cheek cells under the microscope and test their detective skills in an interactive game.
