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Observing Mitosis. The purpose of this experiment is to prepare a slide of actively dividing plant tissue and to observe stages of the cell cycle in living tissue.

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Introduction

Observing Mitosis The purpose of this experiment is to prepare a slide of actively dividing plant tissue and to observe stages of the cell cycle in living tissue. We had to consider the duration of mitosis in relation to the whole cell cycle. First of all got some hydrochloric acid and put it into a water bath at 60�C. Then we cut off some root tips from garlic, we used the tips because it's where mitosis still takes place - the meristem. ...read more.

Middle

After cooling down again and drying, we put the root tips onto a clean microscope slide and cut off the tip of it. We had to make sure it was the meristem and not other differentiated root tissue. Then we macerated the root tip, this breaks up all the cells and makes them one layer. If not sufficiently macerated the layer may not be thin enough to observe cell nuclei. After this we added a small drop of acetic orcein stain so that we could see the cells under the microscope. ...read more.

Conclusion

Some of the stages we could have seen were prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. It was most likely to find cells in the interphase because this stage is much longer than other stages. Some of the safety aspects: Hazard Risk Steps Taken Hydrochloric Acid Damage on contact to eyes and skin Wear goggles and a lab coat Glassware Sharp edges may cause cuts Be careful and put broken glass in the bin Sharps Cause cuts Be careful, tidy them away after Hot Water Bath Burn yourself Be careful Acetic Alcohol Corrosive Wear goggles and a lab coat ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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*** Outlines and explains the steps in obtaining root tip squash slides to observe mitosis, and some 'trouble shooting' information. Could be improved by:
1)The addition of some relevant background information regarding the stages of mitosis
2)A clear explanation of why the various steps are completed
3)Some data, preferably manipulated with clear calculations to show how length of time spent in cell cycle phases can be calculated
4)Solutions to the potential problems that can affect the quality of the slides

Marked by teacher kerry Jackson 24/03/2012

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