Modeling Mitosis with
Phineus the Fruit Fly
Deep within the forest, five fruit flies are
happily preparing for a picnic.
One of the flies is named “Phineus.” This is a
nickname given to him by his friends. His
true scientific name is Drosophila
melangaster which means “fruit fly.”
Their feast of fruit is finally ready to enjoy.
Eager to chow down, all the flies race to find
a seat.
Suddenly, without warning, a fly swatter
appears out of nowhere and hits Phineus.
Phineus is knocked into the air and lands on the
ground. With a broken wing, he has injured
many cells.
OUCH! That
hurt!
Luckily, Phineus has the process of MITOSIS to
help his cells divide. As his cells divide, new ones
will replace the damaged ones. These new ones are
IDENTICAL to the rest of his body.
Thank
goodness for
MITOSIS!
The normal body cells of a fruit fly contain 8
chromosomes. Today, you will model MITOSIS.
This way, when each of Phineus’s cells divide, the
new cells will also have 8 chromosomes.
1
5
2
6
3
7
4
8
Video Animations


Watch this clip titled “Cell Division
and the Cell Cycle” until 4min17sec.
Watch this clip titled
“Mitosis_Hybrid Medical Animation”.
Quick Assessment
Telophase
Metaphase
Prophase
Anaphase