7th grade · Science · Unit 5 of 16
Cells from Cells
DNA, mitosis and growth
What your child practices
How cells copy their DNA and divide by mitosis, the stages in order, why cells divide for growth and healing, and what can go wrong when cell growth isn't controlled.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 7.3 · how mitosis makes new cells with identical genetic information
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Before dividing, a cell copies its DNA so each new cell gets a full set.
- Mitosis stages in order: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase.
- Cells divide for growth and healing. Uncontrolled division can cause cancer.
Example: In which stage do the chromosomes line up in the middle? Prophase: chromosomes condense. Next they line up in the middle: metaphase. Answer: metaphase
Cells from Cells in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 5 of 16 in 7th grade Science, after Photosynthesis & Respiration and before Body Systems.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What is mitosis?
- Cell division that makes two identical daughter cells
- The joining of two cells
- The death of a cell
- Cell division that makes four different cells
Cell division that makes two identical daughter cells
Hint: In mitosis, one cell's nucleus divides, making two genetically identical cells.
Question 2
How are plant cells different in the last stage of cell division?
- They make a new nucleus only.
- They build a new cell plate between the two cells.
- They explode.
- They skip it.
They build a new cell plate between the two cells.
Hint: Plant cells have rigid walls, so a cell plate forms and becomes the new wall.
Question 3
What are the stages of mitosis in order?
- anaphase, prophase, telophase, metaphase
- prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase
- metaphase, prophase, telophase, anaphase
- telophase, anaphase, metaphase, prophase
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase
Hint: A common memory trick is PMAT: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase.
Question 4
Put the stages of cell division in order, earliest first.
- 🔬Prophase: chromosomes condense
- ↔️Anaphase: chromosomes pull apart
- 🧬Interphase: DNA is copied
- ➖Metaphase: chromosomes line up
Interphase: DNA is copied → Prophase: chromosomes condense → Metaphase: chromosomes line up → Anaphase: chromosomes pull apart
Hint: Interphase: the cell grows and copies its DNA. Prophase: chromosomes become visible. Metaphase: they line up. Anaphase: they are pulled apart. Telophase: two nuclei form. Then the cell splits.
Question 5
What is the cell cycle?
- The life of a plant seed
- The cycle of day and night
- The path of blood around the body
- The series of events a cell goes through as it grows and divides
The series of events a cell goes through as it grows and divides
Hint: It includes interphase (growing and copying DNA) and mitosis.
Question 6
What can happen when cells ignore the signals to stop dividing?
- They die immediately
- They may form a tumour, which can become cancer
- They stop needing food
- They turn into plants
They may form a tumour, which can become cancer
Hint: Cancer begins when cell growth is out of control.