C. elegans and Alcohol

Grade Level: 5 - 12 Age Range: 10 - 18 Lesson Length: 1 - 2 classes
C. elegans under the microscope

C. elegans is a free-living nematode. It is small—growing to about 1 mm in length—and lives in the soil (especially in rotting vegetation) where it survives by feeding on microbes such as bacteria. Students design, conduct, and analyze a controlled experiment testing the effects of alcohol on the roundworm C. elegans.

Chemotaxis using C. elegans is referenced in this lesson which is an excellent follow-up to the Chemotaxis lesson.

This 9-minute video shows the life cycle and reproduction of C. elegans in graphical representations as well as footage of the worms under a microscope. The presentation is split into 6 sections and you can jump directly to the section you're interested in. Check it out: C. elegans Development and Reproduction

For culturing C. elegans, see Laboratory 2 and 3 at www.silencinggenomes.org

This lesson is one of several BrainU lesson plans adapted for inclusion 2011-2012 Curriculum Materials for the 2011 Nobel Conference on The Brain and Being Human.

We recommend the card game activity found in the NIH lesson entitled The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology from the Study of Addiction. You may download Lesson 4 (the activity is on pages 87-92).

C. elegans is the subject of an exciting Kickstarter-funded project to create an accurate, open-source digital clone that can be used in research. Read the May 24, 2014 Computer Worms article in The Economist.

AttachmentSize
PDF icon Teacher Guide206.26 KB
PDF icon Student Guide62.07 KB

Topic: 

Class Type: