Planaria Regeneration Lab

Main Objective

• You and a partner will “adopt” a planaria and perform a series of experiments/observations with the animal.

• You will need to keep the planaria alive during the entire lab. Be sure to check on it daily!

• Each person will need to submit a complete, typed lab report summarizing your results following the completion of the lab.

• More than one absence during the lab will mean removal from the partner group.

I. Introduction• Use the information that you have gathered

about Planaria (from the fact sheet) to write and introductory paragraph about the worm.

• Your paragraph should include the following;– Scientific classification– Physical Characteristics, including reproduction

methods– Habitat and Behavior– Purpose of the lab – Your paragraph must be approved before you will

receive a planarian!

Introduction (Part 2)

• Use your information from the Planaria Observation Lab to write a short, descriptive paragraph about your planarian.

• Your paragraph should include:– Physical appearance (including color, length, features

etc….)– Behavior (response to tests in lab)– Any interesting observations made about the planarian.– A different experiment that might be performed with

planaria

II. Materials

• List all of the supplies needed for the lab .• You will create this list as you perform the

experiment.

III. Procedure

• Describe the exact procedure that you and your partner used during the lab.

• You should include the type of cut you were assigned in your description.

• This part of the lab should be written in paragraph form.

IV. Results

A. Personal Results (You and your partner)DAY

NUMBEROBSERVATIONS REGENERATION ?

V. ConclusionUse the following questions to write a small

paragraph (5 sentences) for your conclusion.1. Describe the overall results of your experiment. 2. How long do planaria take to successfully regenerate? Explain?3. By observing your planarian on a daily basis, what did you

learn about its behavior?4. Some of the groups found “new” Planaria in their petri dishes.

What is the scientific explanation behind this phenomenon?5. Discuss any problems or errors that you encountered during

the lab.6. List three things that you learned about Planaria that you did

not know prior to this lab.