— Ryla Cantergiani 2020/04/13 16:13

Before you can score any worm lifespans, you need to be comfortable working with worms. Adjusting the worm scope, picking up and putting down worms, and not poking holes will take some practice.

Have your friendly neighborhood lab tech set you up with some of the practice activities below.

Before working with worms, make sure that you ethanol and wipe down your bench and scope. Once you've finished, make sure to turn on your flame before opening your plates. Flame sterilize your pick.

• It's important to know how much pressure you can put on the agar before you make a hole. Lifespan plates CANNOT have holes in them, because the worms will burrow into them.
• Practice poking holes. Make a picture if you'd like. Test different pressures. Be careful not to bend your pick out of shape while you do this.
• This is also a good opportunity to determine what length of pick you prefer. Try experimenting with different picks.

• Picking up worms takes a little practice. Everyone has a way that works best for them. A good place to start is the “popcorn” technique. It's like picking up pieces of popcorn with your tongue! Get your pick nice and sticky with bacteria from your pick plate, then try picking up the worm. It should stick.
• Others people like to try and scoop them using small movements of the wrist. See what works best for you. Try not to crush the worms.
• This is a good opportunity to determine what shape of pick you like. Do you prefer a looped end, or an L shape?
• Try picking up your worms and setting them back down. Do this ten times.

• Once you can pick up and put down worms, you will want to practice transferring them. From a chunk plate, pick up 12 worms and put them on an empty plate. Once you've done that, try transferring to another small plate.