Explain what safety measures you might take to avoid damaging the microscope, microscope slide, or a living specimen on your microscope stage.

To avoid damaging the microscope keep it away from kids. Keep your face always a safe distance away from the slide and specimen. Be overall very careful, treat it well, do not drop it, and use goggles.

look at the specimen from the side, not through the eyepiece when you are turning the low power objective as close as possible to the specimen to begin your observations. never use the coarse adjustment knob while using the high power objective. never turn the fine adjustment knob more than a fourth turn to adjust the focus while using the high power objective.