Have you ever wanted to see whats in the water from the creek behind your house, or maybe even whats in the water you drink? Well look no further! With this easy project that will literally take you ten minutes, now you'll be able to! What you'll need are less then 5 things and you probably have most of them.

*After you're done, there is a video in the last step so you can see how awesome this is!

Step 1: Materials

So what do you need? Here is the list:
- Small 5mW or 10mW Laser
- Foam, or Foam Board
- Medical needle
- Tape

Oh, and for the tools you'll need
- Hot Glue

Lets get Started!

Step 2: Assembly

To assemble this you need two small rectangles of foam, 2'' X 6'' & 1'' X 6''. And two small squares about .5" X .5" each.
- First glue in place the two big pieces of foam in place like you see in the first picture. You want to almost form an "L"
- Then open a hole in the piece that is standing vertically for your laser to fit nice and snug. Or you can do this before you glue it..
- Lastly glue one of the small square so that your needle hangs on it, you want to have it at the perfect height so the tip is at the height of the laser. Then glue your second small square about 1/2'' above from your laser.

**The piece that is 1/2'' from the laser is used to stab your needle through it so it doesn't wobble around.

Now lets calibrate it!

Step 3: Calibrating

First of all, load your needle with some dirty water! Then follow the steps below:
To Calibrate this all you need to do is get the needle as close, and as centered as possible to the laser. Then slowly press the needle until a tiny drop of water is hanging from the tip. Fire your LASER! And move the tip of the needle around until you see a large image on your wall, believe me you'll know when you've got it! When you have yours just perfect, add a piece of tape to secure the needle in place.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Simple, when the light from the laser hits the drop of water, that acts like a lens; thus, expanding the light and causing the microscopic
effect which then allows you to see the microscopic organisms in the water.

** While Calibrating this you need to be in a dark room.

In the first picture, the needle is perfectly aligned in the center of the laser.
In the second picture you can see how I use the piece of foam to secure the needle in place.
In the third picture I used a piece of tape to secure the needle at the tip.

Step 4: Use It!

Shine your microscope against a wall on a dark room, and let the show begin! If you gather enough dirty water prepare to truly be amazed, as you see tiny organisms move across the projection. Oh, and the further you move away the bigger the image will get, but not to far because you'll loose some brightness.

In the pictures you can see little circles, the camera doesn't capture the image very well, but all those little circles were moving around! Talk about germs!

This video is not mine, I found it around YouTube, it shows how this little beauty works!
Click here to see it!