Mitosis and Meiosis
by Anonymous · ⭐ 1 · 🍴 0
In Grow the Cell, increase a cube-shaped cell's side length from 1 and watch volume grow by the cube while surface area grows only by the square — surface area ÷ volume starts at 6 and keeps shrinking, which is exactly why cells need to divide. In Body Cells, walk through mitosis: chromosomes (2n=4) copy themselves, line up in the middle, then pull apart into 2 daughter cells that each keep 2n=4. In Sex Cells, two divisions halve the chromosome count (2n→n) to make 4 cells. That halved number gets restored to 2n only when fertilization happens.
About this app
Cell Division is an interactive middle-school biology learning app about why cells divide and how mitosis and meiosis work. In the cell-growth activity, adjust the side length of a cube to compare how surface area and volume change, and observe the decreasing surface-area-to-volume ratio. Separate interactive tabs guide learners through chromosome duplication and separation in body-cell division, then through two divisions that produce four sex cells with half the chromosome number and show how fertilization restores 2n.
Use cases
- Middle-school students learning cell biology
- Teachers demonstrating surface-area-to-volume ratio
- Learners reviewing mitosis stages and chromosome counts
- Students studying meiosis, sex cells, and fertilization
Features
- Adjustable cubic cell side length from 1 to 4
- Displays surface area, volume, and surface-area-to-volume calculations
- Step-through visualization of mitosis from chromosome copying to two daughter cells
- Selectable chromosome counts of 2n=2, 2n=4, and 2n=6
- Step-through visualization of meiosis producing four haploid sex cells
- Fertilization control showing n + n returning to a 2n zygote