Fit It

What California State Standards does this activity align with?

• Biology/Life Sciences

  1a. Cell membranes regulate their interaction with the environment

  2d. The fusion of male and female gametes results in new combinations of alleles.

  2e. Approximately half a sexually reproducing animal's DNA sequence comes from each parent.

  2f. Chromosomes determine an individual's sex.

  2g. Possible allele combinations in a zygote can be predicted from the genetic make up of the parent.

  3a. Phenotypes of offspring can be predicted from parental genotype and mode of inheritance.

  4c. DNA mutations may or may not affect gene expression.

  6a. Biodiversity is affected by alterations of habitats.

  7a. Natural selection acts on phenotype.

  7c. New mutations are constantly generated in a gene pool.

  7d. Variation within species increases likelihood of species survival in changing environments.

  8a. Natural selection determines differential survival of groups of organisms.

  9a. Complementary activity of body systems provides cells with oxygen and nutrients, removes waste.

  9b. The nervous system mediates communication between parts of the body and the body's interactions with the environment.

  9c. Feedback loops in the nervous and endocrine systems regulate conditions in the body.

  9e. Roles of sensory neurons, motor neurons.

   

• Physics

  2e. Momentum is a separately conserved quantity from energy.

  2f. An unbalanced force on an object produces a change in its momentum.

   

• Investigation and Experimentation

  1a. Students can select and use appropriate tools to perform tests, collect and display data.

  1d. Students can formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.

  1i. Students can analyze sequences and time intervals characteristic of natural phenomena.

What courses will this be appropriate for?

• Biology
• Advanced Biology
• Anatomy/Physiology

What topic does this address?

• Nematode culturing.
• Observable nematode behaviors.
• Nematode physiology.
• Normal versus mutant strains of C. elegans.
• Effects of alcohol on neuron-to-muscle cell signalling.

What outcomes should students know or be able to do?

Students will know

• Nematode life cycle stages.
• Nematode internal systems.
• Where nematodes live in the wild/how they fit into an ecosystem.
• How to set up an experimental protocol to test the effect of exposure to a substance on nematode movement.
• Effects of alcohol on neuronal transmission.

Students will be able to

• Pick worms, transfer them to a plate.
• Recognize worms at all stages of development.
• Recognize adult hermaphrodites and males.
• Indentify the internal organs and systems of C. elegans.
• Recognize normal and abnormal movement patterns in nematodes.
• Set up, follow, record results, and draw conclusions from an experimental protocol designed to test the effects of alcohol on nematode movement.

Students will understand

• Why and how animal models in general, and C. elegans specifically, are useful in scientific research.
• Genetic similarities between C. elegans and humans.
• Neuron/muscle function similarities between C. elegans and humans.
• The importance of the body cavity as an evolutionary step.
• Where nematodes fit in the evolutionary continuum.
• The processes involved in culturing nematodes on a continuous basis.
• The relationship between neuronal transmission, muscle contraction, and resulting movement.
• The effects of alcohol on neuronal transmission and movement.