Observing Mitosis: A Virtual Lab

Pre-Lab:1. What are the 2 main stages of the cell cycle? _____________________________________________

2. In which stage does the cell spend most of its life? _________________________________________

3. In which stage of interphase is DNA replicated?_________________

4. The process in which the cell is divided to form two daughter cells is called ________________________.

The Stages of Cell Cycle:

Interphase Prophase Metaphase Anaphase Telophase Cytokinesis

MITOSIS

Practice:

http://bio.rutgers.edu/~gb101/lab2_mitosis/section2_frames.html

1. Go to the above site. This will be your time to practice recognizing the phases of mitosis in both plant and animal cells. During this section the correct answers will be provided for you so you can make sure you are on the right track.

2. Click on “root tip” on the left side of the screen. Follow the steps outlined on the site. Hint: the cursor will change to a hand if you are able to identify that particular cell. After clicking on a cell, decide which phase of mitosis that cell is in. If you are not correct the first time, try again. Complete the plant cell (onion root tip) recognition first AND the animal cell (white fish) second.

Lab Procedure:

http://www.biologycorner.com/projects/mitosis.html

1. Go to the above site.

2. Scroll down until you find the Whitefish Embryo section of the lab. a) Enlarge each of the animal cells provided and determine which stage of mitosis each cell is in. c) Draw what you see in the observations section of the lab. d) Underneath your drawing, label the cell with the phase of mitosis it is undergoing.

*It is important that you draw your cells in the same order as they appear on the website or your answers will be considered incorrect.

3. Now scroll down until you find the Onion Root Tip section of the lab. – Follow the same procedure as for the Whitefish Embryo.

Whitefish EmbryoDraw each of the 4 cells and label the phase of mitosis each is undergoing.

Onion Root TipDraw each of the 5 cells and label the phase of mitosis each is undergoing.

Questions:

1) Look at the overall view of the onion root tip. Which phase does it look like most cells are in? Why are most cells in this phase?

2) Label the following pictures of cells with the correct phase of the cell cycle. State the characteristic(s) of the phase that you are using to decide this.