Cell Division Lab: Mitosis & Meiosis
Description
This virtual lab takes students through the eukaryotic cell cycle and the two forms of nuclear division, mitosis and meiosis, using real light-microscope images of plant and animal cells. Students work with a fully interactive compound microscope: they load prepared slides (onion root tip, whitefish blastula, lily anther and grasshopper testis), switch between the 4x, 10x, 40x and 100x oil-immersion objectives, adjust coarse and fine focus, light and diaphragm, and move the stage to find and identify cells in each phase. Animated diagrams and a chromosome simulator show the events inside the cell, including synapsis, crossing over and independent assortment. Drag-and-drop challenges reinforce phase sequencing, cell structures, plant versus animal differences and microscope parts, and a final quiz assesses understanding.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lab, students will be able to describe the stages of the eukaryotic cell cycle (G1, S, G2, M and G0) and the role of cell cycle checkpoints. They will identify each phase of mitosis and meiosis in real micrographs of plant and animal cells, and explain the key events of each phase. They will compare cytokinesis in animal cells (cleavage furrow) with plant cells (cell plate). They will explain how meiosis halves the chromosome number and generates genetic variation through crossing over and independent assortment, and contrast mitosis and meiosis in terms of divisions, daughter cells, ploidy and biological role. Finally, they will operate a compound light microscope correctly, including selecting objectives, using oil immersion, focusing, and calculating total magnification, field of view and resolving power, and calculate a mitotic index from observed cells.