A few years ago, I was in Teaching Tools and I found an Intel Play Microscope that attaches to your computer.  It was on sale for less than $30 and it's regular price was over $100.  So, I bought one.  I took it home and started to play with it.  It was fun and fantastic.  I went back to the store the next day and bought 2 more.  Then I showed them to my principal and she had me go and get 10 more for the school.  I don't know what happened to the schools scopes, but I still have my three.

Since I only have one computer these days, (I used to have 3) I loaned the other two to two of the teachers on my team.  I didn't have one for Monkey Poop because I didn't have enough and because I wouldn't loan her the time of day.  My team members are having a blast learning to use them themselves.  Letting the students investigate will be even more fun. 

You can:  take pictures, take 30 second movies, change the color, paint, Fx, stamp, import, export, print, and so much more.  The down-side is that they are a little slow in focusing.  However, with kids this young, that is a plus.  As they get older and more experienced, it could be a minus.  You can take the top off the scope and carry it around to take movies and other shots with.  This thing is awesome!  It focuses at 10X, 60X, and 200X.  You should see the onion skin we looked at!

I have my computer hooked up to my TV and the entire class can see what is happening.