Bamboo microscopes made in India for $4

Mason says:

Bamboo microscopes that cost just $4 are being made in India by a group called Jodo Gyan. They're hoping to supply kids with more hands-on learning, and get away from rote memorization.
Nature has an article about this, with photos of the microscope and of a woman making them.

Link

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Splash

An infinitely more powerful teaching tool than the OLPC, at a tiny fraction of the cost…
Anonymous

Hi, my name is paroma basu, I shot the photos and wrote the story about the bamboo microscopes. If you want to contact the group that makes them, please write me at pbasoo@gmail.com, and i’ll pass on the relevant info. thanks!
da3nklimpo

very creative, how to order this microscopes ?
Jerrold

I’d like to buy 1 of these to teach with in Canada (more than one lesson here), and donate 10 for educational purposes in India and elsewhere. Who has a contact email for Usha Menon at Jodo Gyan?
Anonymous

I want one! What if they did like the lap-top deal, pay for several, they’re cheap, and get one sent to you?
Anonymous

i dont think that the link is working for this
torpor

If anyone knows where to buy some of these, I’ve got about 4 kids on my Christmas list who would adore this addition to their already-growing science kits ..
DJ Perl

Awesome! Makes me proud ( I’m from India, originally :) !

I wonder if much of product packaging everywhere couldn’t be replaced by natural materials, like bamboo. It grows fast!

Your next yogurt purchase should come in a bamboo container, instead of plastic.

In fact, it should be possible to package and ship product in “live” bamboo. Genetically engineered bamboo that can be shaped bonsai-style, to grow around the product. Shipped with a hemp-sack full of hydroponic solution, wrapped around the roots.

It’s ok. It’s organic!
Zuhaib

$4 is not bad, in RS its about Rs.157 which is decent money.
The Avg yearly income in India is about $500, so this is almost 1% of someones yearly income.
1% of a US Avg yearly incomes comes to about $400.

Its a good goal and I dont mean to knock it as more education is great but whenever i see an article about how something is just “X dollars” in another country it just makes me think about what is the real cost of that product (like the OLPC).