We recently discovered a great microscope companion book, perfect for the beginning science buff.  This book has many fun and easy activities, but the best thing about the book is its explanation of how and why.  Additionally, it offers really useful practical tips on improvising when you don’t have all of the tools.  For example, it provides nifty instructions on making your own microtome (for creating thin sections of samples).  Another thoughtful detail is an explanation of how to estimate the size of your sample when you don’t have a stage micrometer.  Anyway, there are plenty of fun activities with real-world applications stashed inside! This is an older book, so you can get it quite inexpensively from Amazon.com.  However, we gladly borrowed it from our local public library.