a. Modeling Cell Division

• Students will use yarn and pipe cleaners to model the stages of mitosis. Yarn will be used to represent DNA that is wound up (around the pipe cleaners) into chromatids. Two chromosomes will be constructed and used to model the process. Students will record each step with sketches or using photos of each step.

b. Cell Division, Cancer, and Chemotherapy

• Students will test different dosages of chemotherapy “drug.” The drug choices have already been proven effective at destroying cells that divide quickly, but the students need to discover the highest concentration that can be used without adversely affecting cell function. Students test on liver cells to determine how quickly they break down hydrogen peroxide and produce oxygen as a measure of cell function. This is a very simple set-up that uses balloons to capture the oxygen and timing when the balloons “stand up” to determine adequate oxygen production.