MicroscopyEducation
Figures 2A–D: Students getting hands-on experience of the SEM at workshops held at the National Stone Centre.
but also the importance of EDS as an analytical tool and what a valuable addition this was to the experience. “EDS is massively important, and our support from Oxford
Instruments means that both the UK microscopes will now have EDS installed moving forward,” explained project lead Dr. Alex Ball. “Simply measuring spectra from a range of known materi- als and being able to adjust the acceleration voltage and seeing the immediate effect of additional lines appearing on the spec- trum provides such a compelling demonstration of the physics behind the organization of the periodic table that in some cases students understood the periodic table for the first time.” Beyond the deliverables, the level of engagement and the
positive feedback from the students, teachers, and technical staff proves just how exciting and important this experience was. Schools reported students queuing to use the SEMs even in their spare time and influxes of new members of their science clubs. Projects such as this can help to break down the barriers to STEM that young people oſten experience, either through limited opportunities to interact with scientific equipment or feeling like it is inaccessible. Giving young people the opportunity to practically engage
Figure 3: The Hitachi TM4000Plus portable electron microscope at Hintze Hall in the National History Museum, London, UK.
2022 July •
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with STEM subjects at an earlier age outside of a classroom setting can give them new skills and inspire them to look at the world in a different way. Te project not only gave the par- ticipants a new set of skills and the ability to think more ana- lytically, but it also gave them an insight to just how exciting science can be.
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