Abstract: The objective of this lab report is to report our findings on the planarian. We extracted the planarian from a beaker and observed them under a microscope. We observed its sensitivity to touch on different parts of its body, its sensitivity to talcum powder, its reaction to a small piece of liver, and its sensitivity to light.
Introduction: The problem we are investigating is how sensitive it is to touch on different parts of its body, its sensitivity to talcum powder, its reaction to a small piece of liver, and its sensitivity to light. My hypothesis states that the planarian will be sensitive to touch on its face due to the fact that that’s where its brain and eye spots are located, it will deter itself from the talc powder due to the fact that talc powder is not present in its native environment, it will eat the liver due to the fact that planarian eat dead protein matter in their native environment, , and that it will be sensitive to light due to the fact that its native environment is under rocks in bodies of water.
Materials and Methods: The materials we used were the microscope, a small brush (to extract the planarian), slides, petri dished, black paper, glue, talc powder, a flashlight, and liver pieces. First, we placed the planarian into the petri dish; we observed its initial movements. They seemed to stray away from light sources. When we touched its body, it did not respond. When we touched its head, it curled up and tried to get away. We then placed a small amount of talc powder in its way. It did try to “dodge” the talcum powder. We then placed a small piece of liver in its way. It immediately started “winding” its way to the liver and curled itself around it. We then replaced our planarian. This new one also had sensitivity to light. Every time we shined our light source on it, it quickly scurried away. We then placed 2 planarian in petri dishes A and B. They were lined with black paper on the