Mitosis Lab Report

INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURES

Purpose of this Lab: The purpose of the Mitosis lab was to find the different cells in their stages of mitosis and determine the amount of interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase cells.

Hypothesis: There will be more interphase and prophase than metaphase and anaphase. This is because they are the two longest stages of mitosis.

Procedure: In the Mitosis lab, I worked with my partner Mike to take pictures of cells so we could analyze the data and find results. This started with getting an onion root tip on a tray, and then looking at it through different magnifications. We started with the 10x magnification, but since that was very difficult to see: 

we decided to move to a higher resolution. We chose to move up to 40x:

 This was perfect for us because it not only provided a lot of different cells, it was close enough to tell the stages. From there, we got many different segments of the onion root until we had many pictures of cells. 

RESULTS

This was my table of results. This shows that the approximate time spent in each stage is very similar to the percent of total cells counted. Here are some photos of the cells I took:

This is a pie chart I created showing the percent of each stage from my data.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS

After reviewing the data, it shows that the time spent in Mitosis is very similar to the percent of cells in that stage. This means that the more time a cell spends in that stage, the more likely you are to find it there.

My hypothesis was proven because the prophase and interphase cells were found the most. This shows that they also spend the longest time in there.

Questions:

1. Why is it more accurate to call mitosis "nuclear replication" rather than "cellular division"?

Nuclear replication is more accurate because the cell is replicating its DNA, instead of just dividing itself. It is creating a literal copy of itself to go and create more copies. 

2. Explain why the onion root tip is selected for a study of mitosis.

The onion root tip was chosen because the chromosomes are very large and dark when stained. They are easy to find and does not damage the root tip in the process.

1. If your observations had not been restricted to the area of the root tip that is actively dividing, how would your results have been any different?

My results would have changed dramatically because if I took pictures over time, the cells would change stages. This would result in minor data changes, and definite proof of the time that cells spend in each stage.

2. Based on the data in the table, what can you infer about the relative length of time an onion root-tip cell spends in each stage of cell division?

Based on the data, I showed in the pie chart the percent of each stage I found. I infer that the time spent in each stage would be similar to the percent of cell stages I found.