Using a microscope can be a frustrating experience for beginners. Especially if they have the naive belief that 'the higher the power, the better'. A drop of pond water often contains a number of microorganisms. At 20X the filed of view encompasses the drop and the depth of field is large enough so that most of the organisms can be viewed, At 50X, both the field if view and depth of field have decreased. The organisms within the blue rectangle are the organisms that can be viewed at 50X. Note that organisms swim in and out of the rectangle. At 100X, Both the field of view and depth of field have decreased to the point that even though any organism swimming in the rectangle will be greatly magnified, most of time the rectangle is empty and any organism in the rectangle doesn't stay long. Therefore, understanding field of view and depth of field are necessary to keep from getting frustrated looking for microorganisms in a drop of pond water. Knowing the effects of field of view and depth of field allows one to develop strategies for overcoming these effects. For example, a tube with a very thin-walled tip makes it much easier to closely observe organisms at 100X.
Cloning is used to create and animate the 'organisms' seen in the drop of water.
