Our Program
Our Program
Regeneration and Stem Cells: A scientific look at regeneration
Module Overview
About the module
This educational module is intended for high school biology and life science classes with a design that is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. This curriculum introduces students to the fascinating world of planarians. These freshwater flatworms are a key model organism for researching the fundamental principles of regeneration. Regeneration is a remarkable process that allows organisms to restore, renew, and re-establish cells, tissues, and organs.
How it works
Over the course of three weeks, students will explore key concepts in biology, including cellular regeneration, stem cells, the scientific method, and experimental design. In the lecture lesson students will learn about pluripotent stem cells, which differentiate into all other cell types and proliferate in response to damaged tissue. In the laboratory lesson, students will apply the scientific method to student derived regenerative experiments utilizing planarian. This module promotes students to engage in communication with classmates, think critically about scientific questions, design experiments, and interpret data.
Module details:
Subject: Biology Science Discipline: Life Science Grade Level: High School Grades 9-12 (NGSS-Aligned)
Duration: 3-week including one lecture lesson of 40-minute period, a laboratory lesson of 90-minute period, and 15 minute independent data collection during experimental regeneration time course.
Key Science Concepts: stem cells, planarians, regeneration, cell differentiation, scientific method
Additional Concepts: blastema, neoblasts, homeostasis, gene expression, RNA interference, quantitative data, qualitative data
Our impact
From 2022 to 2025, the Planarian Outreach Program has connected with 1,161 students from 6-12th grade in Kansas and Missouri. This includes the collaboration with 13 teachers and 5 schools. In 2025, the POP connected with 149 underrepresented students.