Have you ever heard of planaria? Queen of Peace Catholic Academy students have and they’ve been working with these organisms to learn about “regeneration” as part of their seventh grade science lab.

Dr. Criss Harwick is a teacher at Queen of Peace Catholic Academy with her doctorate being in Biochemistry. She came to the Academy by way of her children, as a volunteer mom. While helping out in the classroom, Dr. Harwick says she fell in love with the school and its students and made the decision to share her love of science with the Academy students full-time.

On any given day, you can walk into the Middle School Science Lab and witness DNA testing, paleogeographic mapping, vehicle design and air bag testing. Recently, the students were participating in a regeneration lab.

Within the group there are engineers (responsible for data), technicians (students assigned to assist the surgeons) and the surgeons, who are performing surgery on planaria, which is in the flatworm family and considered a cousin to flukes and tapeworms. However, unlike their cousins, planaria are free-living. This species has the ability to re-grow a portion of its body that has been injured or lost. Planaria typically are found on the underside of rocks and debris in fresh water streams, ponds and springs.

The student groups were given a diagram of specific cuts they can perform on the planaria. The students were asked to be very careful to avoid smashing or squishing the animal. The parts of the planaria were then placed in separate Petri dishes. Each separate dish was evaluated daily to record any changes. Students were able to observe their animals and follow the progress, as it regenerates body parts or grows another body.

Queen of Peace Catholic Academy features pre-K though eighth grade education. For information, call 332-8808 or visit www.queenofpeaceacademy.org.