I like to have the kids actively demonstrate mitosis:
* Kids line up in a straight line in the classroom
*Each student raises their right arm straight above them
*To demo DNA repication of chromosomes, have the students raise their left
arm
*The two arms (chromatids) should be connected by the centromere (their
head)
* This is meta phase
* Upon my "command" they separate their arms (chromatids) from the
centromere their head
* This is Ana phase
*To represent Telo phase, I have the kids hold up their hands creating a circle
representing the cell membrane
*Upon my command, they represent Telo phase by pinching their fingers
together to show a cell furrow
After this elementary representation, we move on into what actually is happening
at a molecular level.
In addition, there's lots of great free animations to demonstrate mitosis.
I think the best way to teach mitosis is to start off with an "anticipatory set" of
what happens when mitosis goes wrong: cancer, abnormal chromosome
numbers, mutations.
Meiosis
I teach meiosis later in the course so that they don't easily confuse the two
processes.
When introducing meiosis, I like to start out with what happens if meiosis goes
wrong:
1. Down Syndrome
2. Turner's
3. Klinefelter
4. Translocations during meiosis resulting in cancers, sexual ambiguities
Once you capture their curiosity of how does this happen, they are ready to
understand the process of meiosis and why it's so important that mistakes
don't occur during this process.
Patti Nolan Bertino
references:
1. Read to HHMI DVD on SEX
-Click and Learn dealing with sexual development and gender testing in
the Olympics
2. video clip on Evolution of the Y chromosome
3. HHMI DVD on Learning From Patients:
translocation of the Philadelphia Chromosome and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
-------Original Message------From: Kim B. Foglia
Date: 11/17/09 20:07:50
To: BIOFORUM@LISTSERV.ONEONTA.EDU
Subject: Re: Mitosis
At 8:04 PM -0500 11/17/09, Sean Zehner wrote:
>Mitosis = least favorite topic to teach. That is all.
Why? We have a great time.
I make stations and the students have to make posters, and demo with
beads, and write a poem or song, and draw pictures. It's a fun
relaxing time for me.
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