Time for Mitosis Lab



Virtual Mitosis Lab

Onion Root Tip

Mitosis is considered to be a nuclear division, since its main phases deal strictly with the nucleus and its contents (DNA). Mitosis consists of four major phases: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and Telophase. Mitosis is part of a larger cycle called the cell cycle. When a living organism needs new cells to repair damage, grow, or just maintain its condition, cells undergo the cell cycle. In this lab you are going to determine the approximate time it takes for a cell to pass through each of the four phases of mitosis.

Go to the following site:



Drawings of the Interphase and mitosis

Use the circles below to draw cells in interphase and in each phase of mitosis.

I P M A T

Start reading the online “Onion Root Tips” from the URL listed above. You need to follow the directions given to you on the website. As you proceed in the lab, you will be sorting virtual onion root tip cells into their current phase. Count the number of cells that you see in each phase and record answers in the table below. Complete the table.

Table1: Relative Duration of Each Phase of Mitosis

| | | | |

|Phase Name |Count |Percentage* |Time* |

| | | |(minutes) |

| | | | |

|INTERPHASE | | | |

| | | | |

|Prophase | | | |

| | | | |

|Metaphase | | | |

| | | | |

|Anaphase | | | |

| | | | |

|Telophase | | | |

*see instructions on the next page

Total number of cells in sample - _________

Total number of cells undergoing mitosis in the sample - ___________

To find percentage:

Calculate the percentage of the cells found in each phase of mitosis. Dividing the number of cells in each phase by the total number of cells going through mitosis; then multiply by 100. Record your data in Table 1.

To find time (minutes):

In this lab, you can base your calculation on a total cell cycle of 24 hours. Of those 24 hours, it takes about 80 minutes to go through mitosis. Calculate the actual time for each mitotic phase by taking your percentage of the phase and dividing it by 100 and then multiplying that by 80 minutes. Record your data in table 1.

Duration of mitosis (in minutes) = percentage

__________ X 80 minutes

100

Conclusion:

1. The cell cycle is typically divided into (choose one):

a) cell growth, division of the nucleus, division of the cytoplasm

b) prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, cytokinesis

2. The cells that you are observing come from an onion root tip. Why do you think that cell division would be easily seen here? ___________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. How many phases is mitosis divided into? ______________

4. According to the lab, which phase of mitosis takes the longest to complete? _________________

5. Which phase of mitosis requires the next longest time to complete? ________________

6. What important changes are occurring in the nucleus of the cell during the longest phase of mitosis? _______________________________________________________

7. Which phase requires the shortest time to complete? _________________

8. How many cells are there at the end of cytokinesis? ______________

9. Why are there so many cells in Interphase? _____________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

10. DNA is copied during which part of the cell cycle? _________________

-----------------------

mitosis

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download