INVERTEBRATE LAB
(Teacher Version)
1. Prior to the lab, the teacher should set up various stations, which include preserved
samples of a tapeworm, an Ascaris roundworm and heartworms. In addition the
teacher should have prepared slides of mites that can infect animals and deer ticks that
carry Lyme disease.
2. At each station students should observe the specimen carefully and then write down,
in their notebook, which group of invertebrates (from their lesson notes entitled “Some
Freshwater Invertebrates You Might Find”) they think the specimen is related to.
3. After the students have been through all of the stations, discuss as a class which
groups of invertebrates they think each of the specimens is related to, and why. The
discussion should be directed to ensure that the students realize that closely related
organisms share similar characteristics.
4. Assign each group a specimen from today’s learning stations. Have each group do
some Internet investigations to learn about the life cycle of their assigned organism.
Each group should design and produce a poster that illustrates their organism’s life
cycle. This should include a picture of the life cycle, text to describe the life cycle and
what types of organisms it can infect and a title, which includes the name of the
invertebrate.
Examples for research could include, but are not limited to: Deer Tick, Toxocara canis,
Toxascaris leonine (or any other type of round worms found in animals), Dirofilaria
immitis (heartworms found in dogs), tapeworms, whipworms, ear mites etc.
5. Have each group present their poster and teach their organism’s life cycle to the rest
of the class.
6. Following the presentations, hold a whole class discussion, focusing on the following
questions:
a. What did the different life cycles of these disease-causing organisms all have in
common?
b. Which organisms cause disease directly?
c. Which organisms transmit (rather than cause) disease?
d. For each organism, what are some ways that infection could be prevented? What are
some ways that infection can be treated or cured?