Ap Biology Unit 4 Lab Report

Lab 4 Thoughtful Observation
In this lab, we viewed Allium Root Tip and Whitefish Blastula cells under the microscope in order to view the different stages of Mitosis. The purpose of this activity was to visualize the process of cell reproduction, and the results of our experiment conclude that 44% of the Whitefish Blastula cells were in Prophase, 18% in Metaphase, 21% in Anaphase, and 17% in Telophase, so cells generally spend a longer amount of time in Prophase.
The results of the lab showed that cells spend more time in Prophase and Anaphase than Metaphase and Telophase because Prophase and Anaphase involve more movement of the chromosomes and mitotic spindles than Metaphase and Telophase where just one or two minute things occur. Although it is not a phase in mitosis, Interphase was seen in many of the cells, and if we had included Interphase in finding the percentages,

Mitosis describes the reproduction of somatic cells, and Meiosis describes the reproduction of sex cells. We have discussed that Interphase, although not actually a part of Mitosis, is the longest phase and that Prophase involves the dissolution of the nuclear envelope, the condensing of chromatin into chromosomes, and the formation of mitotic spindles that attach to the centromeres of the chromosome pairs. After Prophase comes Metaphase where the chromosomes line up in the center of the cell at the metaphase plate. Next, Anaphase occurs where sister chromatids separate to become two separate chromosomes that then move to opposite poles of the cell. This results in the cell’s shape becoming elongated and the chromosome pairs splitting apart. Lastly, Telophase follows Anaphase and nuclei form around the two sets of chromosomes that then become less condensed. In Telophase, the microtubules break down too, and this phase is overlapped at the end of Mitosis with Cytokinesis that involves the final splitting of the two