1) What is C. elegans?

C. elegans is a free living round worm that is about 1 mm in length. It can be found in the soil in many regions and feeds on bacteria. To learn more about C. elegans, click here.

2) Why study C. elegans?

Although it is tiny and considered primitive, C. elegans shares many biological properties with other more advanced organisms, such as the human. More details about the characteristics that make it a good experimental organism in biology research can be found here.

3) What is WormClassroom?

The WormClassroom is meant to be a community resource for all interested in teaching and learning with and about C. elegans. As worm is the common nickname for C. elegans, we use "WormClassroom" to refer to our mission which is to serve as an education portal to C. elegans research and resources. For the purpose of the web site, the terms "worm" and "C. elegans" will be used interchangeably.

4) What can be found in the WormClassroom?

Information such as what a worm is, who is working on the worm, what research has been done using the worm and the instructional materials developed using the resulting research data can be found.

5) Who is the target audience?

The material provided is aimed for informal and formal science education use. In particular, we have designed instructional materials for use in advanced high school and introductory college biology courses. We are seeking to make available instructional materials for K-12 as well. It is our hope that this web site may also be of use to new C. elegans researchers and the general public.

6) Why are C. elegans research resources being made available as educational materials?

As a widely studied model research organism, there are many important research findings and resources available from the C. elegans community. As these findings and resources have helped researchers elucidate key biological principles, they are also useful in teaching biological curriculum.

7) How can I contribute my C. elegans teaching and research materials to this site?

Your contributions are very welcome. To submit materials, please go to Contact Us.

8) How do I cite materials from WormClassroom?

Resources at this site can be freely used for education purposes.
For other uses, please write to Fong-mei Lu or Kevin Eliceiri.