Help students understand the 4 stages of mitosis in 4 steps

A young masculine-presenting kid with a red hoodie jacket blows air from their mouth onto the cover of a book, dust flying.

What do home dust, growing in height, and cancer all have in common?

All of these involve a process called mitosis.

As a high school teacher, it might be hard to make dry, dusty biology topics into something interesting. But mitosis might grow on you and your students in 4 steps! 🙂

Did you know?

Most of the time when you hear about cell division, we're talking about mitosis, where our bodies make new identical copies of body cells, like skin or tissue cells. Mitosis does not produce sperm or egg cells for fertilization. That process is called meiosis. 🤰🏽

Step 1. Become a mitosis master 👩🏿‍🔬

A sitting woman-presenting scientist in a lab room with plant cell poster is using forceps on a plant leaf in a test tube. Image by storyset on Freepik

Be the mitosis expert that your students need by:

Watching videos created by engaging biology experts such as Amoeba Sisters, Khan Academy, or CrashCourse
Reading an open-access online text-book about the cell cycle
Practicing with mitosis activitiesto see which ones will fit your course goals
Making scientific slidesto view under a microscope and review mitosis stages

If you have these or can make a purchase, here are some slide examples for your class:

Flaticon Icon

PlantCell Slide Mitosis Examples

Cultivated onion root tips
Other Allium spp. plant root tips, such as chives, garlic, leeks, scallion, or shallot

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Animal Cell Slide Mitosis Examples

Whitefish blastula (embryonic stage)
Roundworm eggs, such as Ascaris spp.
Human cervical cancer

Step 2. Try new learning strategies 👨🏽‍🏫

3 diverse BIPOC young adult humans are dancing to music in-sync with choreography while smiling and looking to the right.

Image by storyset on Freepik

If you or your students have a passion for poetry, music, or moving body cells, try:

Creating song lyrics about mitosisthat describes the stages
Writing a poem on cell divisionsteps and processes
Coordinating a class dance mitosis activity with a teacher/student guide

3 diverse relaxed human beings are each meditating with face masks, crossed legs on mats in a room with plants and windows. Image by storyset on Freepik

Meditation with deep breathing is known to slow down your cells' dividing or aging.

Practice slowing down cell division together by:

Facilitating a guided meditation followed by a mitosis discussion
Practicing with a 5-minute breathing exercise together, then tying it to the lesson

Did you know?

Meditation may have additional physical health benefits, such as managing symptoms of conditionslike anxiety, asthma, chronic pain, depression, tension headaches, sleep-related issues, and more. 🧘🏽

Step 3. Share effective mitosis study tools 📓

3 students are smiling in a room with a computer while high-fiving, raising one arm each to touch hands above head in unison. Image by storyset on Freepik

Share the PMAT acronym along with the "Please Make A Taco" mnemonic:

Prophase— chromatin condenses to chromosomes, spindles form, and centrosomes begin to move to opposite Poles
Metaphase— chromosomes line up at the Middle of cell
Anaphase— chromosomes pull Apart and move to opposite ends of cell
Telophase— Two new cells start forming nuclei and nuclear envelopes

Note: depending on your class needs, you may have to add information about interphase and late prophase in your lesson.

Quiz

Let's see if you've reviewed mitosis! After mitosis, the resulting cells:

are genetically variable

are genetically identical

genetics are irrelevant here

are genetically different

Did you know?

Prophase has two stages called early prophase (often called just prophase and referenced in this Byte) and late prophase (also known as prometaphase). 🤓

Step 4. Show real-world mitosis examples 🌏

A restful person with a headwrap, genes and no shirt on is missing one breast next to 'BREAST CANCER AWARENESS' words.

Image by storyset on Freepik

Breast cancer is a disease where cells divide uncontrollably and form a tumor mass on the breasts of a person.

A smiling mother is hand-patting the top of smiling masculine-child's head next to a giraffe-shaped height chart in a class.

Image by storyset on Freepik

Many living beings, including human beings, are constantly going through mitosisin order to repair old cells and to grow into adulthood. When your students are growing in height, that is also mitosis!

Did you know?

House dust is made up of plant parts, pollen, microbes, dead skin flakes of your old cells, hairs, and fibers from objects in your home. 🏡

Take Action

GIF animation image of real-time 3D cell division occurring in various colored cells under a confocal microscope.

Help your students grow and learn about mitosis!

Be the mitosis expert by watching videos and reading in-depth about the topic

Try at least one activity suggested in this Byte during a cell division lesson

Multiply your toolkit with mitosis-related Open Educational Resources

Share more effective study tips with your students to help them ace your tests

Help students understand the 4 stages of mitosis in 4 steps

What do home dust, growing in height, and cancer all have in common?

Did you know?

Step 1. Become a mitosis master 👩🏿‍🔬

PlantCell Slide Mitosis Examples

Animal Cell Slide Mitosis Examples

Step 2. Try new learning strategies 👨🏽‍🏫

Did you know?

Step 3. Share effective mitosis study tools 📓

Quiz

Did you know?

Step 4. Show real-world mitosis examples 🌏

Did you know?

Take Action

Help your students grow and learn about mitosis!

This Byte has been authored by

Melissa Carrillo-Galaviz