Thank you to Thomas Trocco for this lesson adapted for distance learning.

Focus Questions: 

• What are the four functions of cell division?
• What is the pattern growth in the number of cells as they divide?

NGSS Standard:

• Students will explore this life science Core Disciplinary Idea:

Life Science 1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms: In multicellular organisms, individual cells grow and then divide via a process called mitosis, thereby allowing the organism to grow. The organism begins as a single cell (fertilized egg) that divides successively to produce many cells, with each parent cell passing identical genetic material (two variants of each chromosome pair) to both daughter cells. Cellular division and differentiation produce and maintain a complex organism, composed of systems of tissues and organs that work together to meet the needs of the whole organism.

Learning Objectives: In this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify the four functions of cell division by partner reading
• Analyze the pattern of cell number increase and calculate how many cells would be produced in additional divisions
• Choose the correct type of graph to display data, graph the results, and identify the type of function that results
• Hypothesize cell division rate in different cell types throughout the human body and explain their reasoning