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Mitosis: Making Duplicate Cells

Scenario:
While you were out four-wheeling with friends, you drove down to the Basin.
In the excitement, you cut your arm. In the ER they gave you 8 stitches and
told you that you have to keep the wound dry until the stitches come out in 4
weeks. During this time the damaged skin will need to be replaced by the
surrounding healthy skin. Individual skin cells will spend the next few weeks
making copies of themselves until the wound is completely healed.

Objective:
Your challenge is to determine what structural and functional barriers
(problems) a cell must overcome to divide and produce an exact replica of
itself. You will also develop possible solutions for each barrier that the cell
must address.

Brainstorm:
1. List as many structures of a single cell you can remember.

2. What preparations do you think a cell must make before it can

replicate and divide?

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3. What are the major structural and functional barriers a cell must
overcome? Brainstorm some ways the cell might overcome the barrier.
(Remember: Structural barriers refer to the cell parts. Functional
barriers refer to the ability of the cell to do work and perform its job.)
Use the table below to organize your thoughts. Dont worry about what the
right answer is. The purpose of this activity is to problem solve, and think
about what is happening to a cell during mitosis.

Structur Description of Barrier

al or
(problem)
Function
al

Possible solutions

Making Models:
1. Use the materials provided to each group.
2. Assign objects a cell structure.

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3. Manipulate the pieces to simulate a possible solution to one problem

from your data table. Play with the materials and role play possible
solutions to the problem.

Analysis/Conclusion:
Using the problem you role played, answer the following questions using
complete sentences.
1. Draw a picture and label the structure/parts of the cell.

2. Draw a picture of the model you came up with using the materials, and
label the structure/parts of the cell. (This is the solution your group
came up with.)

3. In what ways is your solution successful in addressing the problem?

4. In what ways is your solution not successful in addressing the problem?

Now think about where we are going with mitosis. You arent expected to
know the answers, but what do you think? Write a hypothesis for each
question.
5. How do you think a cell knows when to stop dividing? What happens if
the cell divides indefinitely?

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6. How do you think a new cell knows to be skin cells, and not heart or
eye cells?

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