2005 NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program

One of the more interesting specimens that we examined was the common head lice.  We wanted to use the idea of the "Powers of Ten" to examine the lice at 25x, 250x and 2500x.  

Here is the view of the lice at the lowest magnification.There is also a hair next to the lice from the sample provider.  The circular pools in the background are from the carbon tape which is used to hold onto the specimen

In this image we have "zoomed" in a magnitude of ten. This is a close up of one of the legs of the lice as seen at a magnification of 250x.

Once again, we have gone in further, by another power of ten. We are now looking at a close up of the hair on the leg of the lice. The magnification of this image is 2500x.

We also found a view of a lice in action.  If you look closely, you can see the damage done to the human hair that the lice is clinging to near the underbelly of the lice.

The magnification for this image is only 50x.

Here is a better view of the leg/claw of the lice as it is digging into the human hair.  This image was taken at a magnification of 100x.

 Here's a close-up of the claw.  This image is at a magnification of 7000x.