Florida Science Grade 6

Unit 1: Structure of Organisms

Cells in Petri dish

Project Type: Technology
Imagine that a cell is placed in a dish of nutrient-rich agar. Twenty minutes later, the cell would have divided to form two cells. Assuming that the cells continue to divide every 20 minutes, how many cells would be in the dish an hour after the first division? Two hours after the first division?

Using a computer graphing program, illustrate the pattern of cell reproduction with the correct number of cells at 20-minute intervals. Students can also create their graphs using pen and paper if a computer is not available. They should clearly label each 20-minute interval.

Results:
Students' graphs should indicate that there would be 16 cells after the first hour and 128 cells after the second hour.

Resources:
Students can visit these sites to learn more about cell division.

The Cell Cycle and Mitosis Tutorial
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/tutorials/cell_cycle/main.html

Cells Alive!
http://www.cellsalive.com/

Rubric:

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