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Orange jellyfish swimming

 Phyla

Flatworms

Associated Shape of Life Content

Flatworms: The First Hunter Questions

There are three separate lessons here based on questions.

  • A list of questions about the characteristics of flatworms to use after viewing the video Flatworms: The First Hunter.
  • A Shape of Life: The First Hunter worksheet. Students make sketches and write short answers to questions about the amazing world of flatworms. This was created by Rachel Miller from Science from Scratch.
  • A Powerpoint with questions to use while watching the video Flatworms: The First Hunter.

 

Who Was "Hunter Eve?"

The paleontological evidence of the first animal to hunt is tiny trails that have been fossilized in rocks. To start this lesson, students will consider the tracks and traces left by modern animals and what they can learn about an animal from its tracks.

Paleontology of Flatworms

Researchers say tiny marine worms called acoels may be one of the closest living representatives of the first bilaterally symmetrical organisms. Using DNA analyses, the team concluded not only that the acoels don't belong with other flatworms, but that they alone represent a living relic of the transition between radially symmetrical animals such as jellyfish and more complex bilateral organisms such as flatworms.

Are Planarians Guiding Us to a New Way of Healing?

Planarians are small flatworms known for their amazing ability to regenerate. As the naturalist John Graham Dalyell wrote in 1814, planarians could “almost be called immortal under the edge of the knife. They can tear themselves in half and regrow complete bodies. They can retain memories despite decapitation. And if you chop them into little pieces, each piece will start acting like a perfectly intact worm.