What a packed lesson! Provide your class with the opportunity to learn about the cell cycle in several exciting ways. Biologists first learn about the theory behind mitosis, then proceed to view onion tips under the microscope and create images depicting various cellular stages of division they witness. Upon completion, they choose an additional activity, such as making mitosis cookies, a mitosis pie, or a vocabulary pyramid.

Concepts

chromatids, chromatin, mitosis, anaphase, telophase, metaphase, cell division

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Encourage groups of classmates to prepare cookies depicting various stages of the mitotic cycle upon completion of the lab portion
• Use another source, besides onion, to view under the microscope

Classroom Considerations

• Assist the class when using microscopes and ensure all follow safety protocols
• If the cookie recipe is used, be sure participants do not have food allergies prior to preparation

Pros

• Multiple activities within the experiment provide a variety of interactive methods to engage learners
• Lesson may be split into several smaller segments for classes who require extra assistance on the topic of mitosis and the cell cycle

Cons

• None