What are the differences between a microscope and a telescope?

They are both similar in that it’s all about a game of bending light to meet your need using lenses in various configurations. Hope this helps.

Microscopes have smaller lenses and shorter focal lengths, because they are used to magnify things that are nearby.

The microscope looks at things that are very small and the telescope looks at things far away. One has plenty of light available to view, and the other has to gather a lot of light to be able to view. While somewhat similar in how the lenses are arranged and used, they are not interchangeable.