What Does It Mean to Magnify?

Eryn Lynum· Host0:00

Hey parents, if you are listening, stay tuned in. This special announcement is for you also. And kids, if your parent or caregiver is not listening, press pause and ask them to come listen with you. Have you ever used a magnifying lens to look at a beetle, flower, or caterpillar up close? What happens when you look through a magnifying lens? You get to see the creature or the plant much closer and notice all of its wonderful details. One day I saw a large, bright red beetle on a milkweed plant in our yard. It was a milkweed beetle. I leaned in close and placed a magnifying glass in front of it. I could see all the different segments or pieces of its six legs, including what looked like tiny claws on its feet. I observed nine segments on each of its long curled antenna. I looked at the pattern on its red wings and could count six black dots on the front and seven black shapes on the main part of its body. [birds chirping] Another day, I looked through a magnifying lens at a sunflower, and I saw thousands of tiny individual florets at its center. As I looked at the single sunflower that was in front of me, I was actually seeing thousands of flowers on one flower head. This is called a composite flower,