Title and Authors
Observing Mitosis and Meiosis in plant and animal cells
Rhianna Dix
Introduction
What does the different stages of mitosis look like in a plant versus an animal cell?
How long does a cell spend in each phase of mitosis?
What does crossing over look like in meiosis of Sordaria fimicola?
The independent variable is the time spent in each part of mitosis and the dependent variable is the number of cells that are in each part of the cycle (i.e. Interphase, prophase, metaphase, and telophase).
The controlled variables are the slides and microscope used in the experiment.
Hypothesis: Mitosis will occur in both the whitefish and the onion root tip because they were both living and all living things need to reproduce new cells in order to continue living. Meiosis and crossing over will occur in gametes and spores.
Methodology
Activity A:
Procedure: Using illustrations of the stages of mitosis and cytokinesis identify the stages of mitosis on the whitefish slide and the onion root tip slide. When the stages are identified on a cell draw them and label the stage on a separate sheet of paper then write a quick explanation of what is happening in each cell.
Materials: Prepared microscope slides of onion root tip and whitefish and a microscope.
Activity B:
Procedure: Using three different cards, all with onion root on them, count the number of cells that are in each stage of mitosis on an onion root tip slide record the results on a data table. Then get the results from the class to get a class set of data.
Materials: Prepared cards with pictures of onion root tip on objective (40x)
Activity C:
Procedure: Answers the questions for activity C.
Materials: Chromosome sets and calculators.
Activity D:
Procedure: Using the sheet of 15 ascospores choose a few to compare. Count and record the number of spores according to color (black or white). Making tally marks in the data table indicate how many asci had crossed over during metaphase 1 of meiosis.
Materials: Ascospores resource sheet and data table.
Results
Diagram 1.1- Whitefish
Diagram 1.1 shows the different stages of mitosis in whitefish cells.
Diagram 1.2- Onion Root Tip
Diagram 1.2 shows the different stages of mitosis in onion root tip.
