Subscribe

9th grade · Science · Unit 1 of 10

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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: HS-LS1-4 · cell division and growth

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Before dividing, a cell copies its DNA so each new cell gets a full set.
  2. Mitosis stages in order: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase.
  3. 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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 1 of 10 in 9th grade Science, before Reproduction.

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.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is the cell cycle?

    • The series of events a cell goes through as it grows and divides
    • The path of blood around the body
    • The cycle of day and night
    • The life of a plant seed

  2. Question 2

    Put the stages of cell division in order, earliest first.

    • ⚪Telophase: two new nuclei form
    • 🔬Prophase: chromosomes condense
    • ↔️Anaphase: chromosomes pull apart
    • ➖Metaphase: chromosomes line up

  3. Question 3

    What is mitosis?

    • The joining of two cells
    • The death of a cell
    • Cell division that makes two identical daughter cells
    • Cell division that makes four different cells

  4. Question 4

    Before a cell divides, the DNA is…

    • split into random pieces
    • removed from the cell
    • destroyed
    • copied, so each new cell gets a full set

  5. Question 5

    How are plant cells different in the last stage of cell division?

    • They build a new cell plate between the two cells.
    • They explode.
    • They make a new nucleus only.
    • They skip it.

  6. Question 6

    What is a gene?

    • A protein only
    • A section of DNA that carries instructions for a trait or protein
    • A kind of organ
    • A type of cell

More 9th grade