In this activity, students model how scientists interpret microscope data by using shadows of an object from different angles to build up a 3D image.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- describe how they used shadow outlines of an object viewed from different angles to build up a 3D image
- explain how this process relates to actual data interpretation when using microscopes and other imaging techniques
- describe how 2D representations of 3D objects can be misleading.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
- introduction/background notes
- what you need
- what to do
- discussion questions
- extension ideas.
Nature of science
Two tenets of scientific inquiry are the gathering of evidence (data) and the use of logical reasoning to interpret the data.
Activity idea
Students might like to try a second method of building 3D images from 2D data with the activity Using lolly slices to build 3D images.