Mitosis Activities
These activities are part of Carolina Biological Supply Company’s Inquiries in Science program:
Activity 1: Preparing and Observing Onion Root Tip Slides
- Onion roots were grown and then placed in Carnoy Fixative in prepartion for using them during class.
- Upon obtaining an onion root, why did you place it in hydrochloric acid?
- After the onion root was submerged in HCl for four minutes, it was transferred to a cup of Carnoy Fixative under the fume hood. What is the purpose of using Carnoy Fixative? Why was the use of Carnoy Fixative limited to the fume hood?
- Why was the root tip removed and used to prepare a slide?
- What is the purpose of Toluidine Blue stain?
- Why was the excess Toluidine Blue stain removed?
- You used a coverslip to gently compress the root tip. Why did you do this prior to looking at the cells under the microscope?
- Study the following pictures of cells taken of a slide prepared by Kathleen S and Callyn H. Which phases of the cell cycle are you able to identify?
Activity 2: Modeling Mitosis
Which phase of mitosis is represented in each picture?
Activity 3: Designing and Conducting an Inquiry Activity
- How did you determine the amount of time onion root tip cells spend in each phase of the cell cycle?
- View the graph constructed by Brooke B. According to her results, which phase of mitosis lasts the longest amount of time? Which phase of the cell cycle lasts the longest amount of time?
A comprehensive review of this kit was written in the May 2009 issue of The Amercian Biology Teacher, a publication of the National Association of Biology Teachers.
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