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Journals
Gravitational and Space Research
Volume 6 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)
Open Access
Worms in Space for Outreach on Earth: Space Life Science Activities for the Classroom
Christopher J. Gaffney
Christopher J. Gaffney
,
Amelia K. Pollard
Amelia K. Pollard
,
Colleen S. Deane
Colleen S. Deane
,
Michael Cooke
Michael Cooke
,
Michele Balsamo
Michele Balsamo
,
Jennifer Hewitt
Jennifer Hewitt
,
Siva A. Vanapalli
Siva A. Vanapalli
,
Nathaniel J. Szewczyk
Nathaniel J. Szewczyk
,
Timothy Etheridge
Timothy Etheridge
and
Bethan E. Phillips
Bethan E. Phillips
| Jul 21, 2020
Gravitational and Space Research
Volume 6 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)
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Article Category:
Educational Outreach
Published Online:
Jul 21, 2020
Page range:
74 - 82
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/gsr-2018-0011
Keywords
Spaceflight
,
Education Outreach
,
Muscle
,
Space Life Sciences
,
STEM subjects
,
Educational Resource
,
Molecular Muscle Experiment
,
Worms in Space
© 2018 Christopher J. Gaffney et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Figure 1
Activity 1 setup for outreach events: observing wild-type (i.e., healthy/normal) and mutant (i.e., dysfunctional/diseased) worms using a microscope and wireless tablet setup. Activity pack 1 provides data derived from this experimental setup.
Figure 2
Activity 2 setup for outreach events: observing the effect of unloading on wild-type and mutant worms. (A) Mutant worms (e.g., dys-1) are observed in parallel while on solid nematode growth media (NGM) and in liquid within petri plates. (B) For an acute treatment, worms are transferred from NGM plates to buffer in petri plates and are left for 15 minutes before imaging. This can also be done with wild-type worms as an optional extra activity.
Figure 3
Spaceflight hardware. (A) Diagram of how cages and polyethylene bags come together and are then (B) inserted into the cassette. Photographs of Molecular Muscle Experiment (MME) spaceflight hardware components: (C) a single cage; (D) four cage compartments connected without bags; (E) polyethylene bags; (F) cages with three polyethylene bags enclosed; (G) corners of polyethylene bags taped to ensure a good seal within the cassette; (H) a single cassette; (I) lateral view of cassette with cage and bags in situ; (J) aerial view of cassette with cage and bags in situ. Activity pack 3 provides questions based on these images and photographs. Cassette dimensions are (height x length x depth as depicted in (A)) 24 x 91 x 56 mm. Hardware was developed by Kayser Italia under a European Space Agency (ESA) contract.