Place the microscope on top of a table or flat surface. Unwind the cord and plug it in. Clean the lenses with optical safe lens paper. Turn on the light.
Take the prepared slide and place it under the spring clips. Look into eye piece and adjust stage until the specimen comes into view. Rotate the nosepiece to the scanning objective lens, one with the smallest barrel. Adjust the coarse focus dial, the large knob on either side toward the base, to view the cell.
Rotate the nosepiece and click the next magnification lens (the high dry) into position. The size of the lens barrel determines the magnification; the larger the barrel the higher the magnification. Locate the nucleus by its size and dark, unchanging appearance. Adjust the fine focus knob, the smaller dial on each side of the microscope that is used for precision focusing, to view inside of the nucleus.