How to Create a Mitosis Flip Book
- 1). Using the pencil, lightly write a page number, 1 through 23, on the bottom left corner of 23 of the index cards. This will ensure that you have your final flip book pages in the correct order. The unmarked card will be used as a cover.
- 2). Using the marker, on the right half of Page 1, draw an oval to represent the cell, filling most of that half of the index card. Represent the 48 human chromosomes as eight for manageability. Draw these eight chromosomes inside the cell as half of an X. They should look like "<" or ">".
- 3). On the right half of Page 2, draw the cell and chromosomes in the same position as on Page 1. Show the doubling of the chromosomes by completing the other half of each X.
- 4). Copy the previous image onto Page 3 and add four centrioles, or poles, to the middle of the cell.
- 5). Copy the previous image onto Page 4, but place two of the poles slightly closer to the left edge of the cell and the other two slightly closer to the right edge of the cell. In each of Pages 5 through 7, continue to shift the locations of the centrioles until two are within the cell along the right cell wall and two are along the left cell wall. These successive minor location shifts will make it look like the poles are moving to the edges of the cell when the pages are flipped.
- 6). Copy the image from Page 7 onto Page 8, and add four spindle fibers between one pole on the left and one pole on the right. Repeat for the other pair of poles. The fibers should not pass through the chromosomes.
- 7). Copy the previous image onto Page 9, but place one chromosome randomly on each spindle fiber. Copy that image onto Page 10, but align the chromosomes down the center of the cell. There should still be one chromosome on each spindle fiber.
- 8). Copy the previous image onto Page 11, but slightly shorten the spindle fibers by severing them down the middle. Split the chromosomes so that the end of each spindle fiber segment has either "<" or ">". Repeat this image on Pages 12 through 14, successively shortening the spindle fibers on each page and thereby moving each chromosome half further away from its other half.
- 9). On Page 15, copy the image from Page 14 but leave out the spindle fibers and poles which have disappeared at this stage of the mitosis.
- 10
On Page 16, copy the previous image, but instead of a smooth oval cell, indent the cell wall slightly at the top and bottom to indicate the start of the cell splitting. The cell wall should slightly resemble a sideways hourglass. On Pages 17 through 20, continue this process by deepening the indentations in the cell wall until the cell resembles a sideways "8". - 11
On Page 21, slightly separate the two halves of the "8". There are now two daughter cells created from the original cell. On Pages 22 and 23, continue to increase the distance between the two cells. Mitosis is complete. - 12
Order the index cards by page number and place the blank card on top of the pile. Staple the cards together along the left edge of the pile using three evenly spaced staples. Write "Mitosis Flip Book" on the cover and optionally include your name.
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