At large public universities, it is often difficult to provide students with the optimum breadth and depth of laboratory experiences. To cope with the realities of team teaching, I have developed C. elegans based modules for three different lab courses: Introductory Biology (taught to 500 freshmen per semester), Genetics Lab (~50 upperclassmen per semester), and Cell Biology Lab (16 upperclassmen per semester). These modules provide a way to use C. elegans to introduce students to multiple subjects and techniques at different levels of complexity. Introductory Biology: The most basic module takes two meetings in the middle of the first term of a joint lecture-lab course; students have studied basic genetics and are studying cells. In week 1, students receive plates of N2,
dpy-5, and
unc-52. The students observe and record body bends per minute using a dissecting scope and learn about mutant phenotypes. In week 2, they analyze their data using Excel and use a shared fluorescent microscope to observe and photograph GFP+ worms. Genetics Lab: The module in this team-taught lab (which also uses Drosophila, bacteria, and yeast) introduces students to RNAi and gives them more experience with fluorescent microscopy. In week 1, students receive a regular or RNAi-hypersensitive GFP+ strain and plates with OP50 or
dpy-5 RNAi bacteria. In week 2, the students use upright (fluorescent) microscopes to observe the morphology of their treated worms vs.
dpy-5 mutants. The students take photographs and quantify worm length using ImageJ and Excel. Cell Biology Lab: "My" lab makes extensive uses of transgenic nematodes. Each student receives a different GFP-translational fusion strain near the beginning of the course. As an introduction to bioinformatics, the students use WormBase to gather information on their strains and GFP labeled proteins. The students use their strains to run protein gels and Westerns. They use fluorescent teaching scopes with digital cameras to observe and photograph their strains. They perform indirect immunofluorescence with an anti-GFP antibody, a second antibody, and phalloidin. The students are given supervised time at the confocal microscope to take images of their strain. The final class presentations allow the students to discuss the cell biology of 'their' GFP-proteins with each other.