Discovering Mitosis

Materials
Paper Plates
Colored Pipe Cleaners
Masking Tape

Procedure
1.Get 2 paper plates and a set of 3 pairs of pipe cleaners.

2.Place the 2 paper plates on top of each other. Scramble the 6 pipe cleaners so that the colors are all mixed. Place them on the paper plates. Draw this on a separate sheet of paper and label it Figure A.

3.Separate the strands according to color. Twist 2 of the same color pipe cleaners
around each other one time in the middle. Place each pair on the paper plates.
Draw this and label it Figure B.

4.Line up the pairs of pipe cleaners along the middle of the paper plate. Draw this and label it Figure C.

5.Separate the 2 paper plates and move them partially apart. Also, separate each pipe cleaner and move 1 of each color to opposite ends of the 2 plates. Draw this
and label it Figure D.

6.Scramble the pipe cleaners on each of the plates. Separate the paper plates even
further. Draw this and label it Figure E.

7.Completely separate the paper plates. Draw this and label it Figure F.

Critical Thinking & Application

1.Label each stage of the cell cycle for Figures A-F.

2.Each of the letters A through F represent a stage in the life of a cell. What do you see happening to the cell from the 1st stage through the 6th stage?

3.The colored pipe cleaners represent genetic material in the cell. How does this
genetic material appear in the cell in stage A?

4.What happens to the strands of genetic material in stages B and C?

5.What has happened to the strands of material by the time they reach stage D?

6.Describe the genetic material inside each of the circles in stage F. What do these
circles represent? How does the genetic material in the 2 circles compare?