LAB PROJECT #3, CELL MODEL

I made attempt to make a cell model with jello and lots of candy. Which my kids loved by the way. It didn't go as well as expected. Harder to put together and be able to see everything. In this first picture is some of the supplies I used to get it started. The next picture has the candy labeled to what part of the cell they represented. Now one part not listed in the picture below is the plastic bag used for the cell membrane. Also in this picture on the left is a better picture of the Golgi body, it is the red vine thing in the bottom right of the picture. The nucleus was a giant jawbreaker. Golgi bodies were twizzlers candy. Endoplasmic Reticulum, smooth was gummy worms, rough was sugar coated gummy worms. Ribosomes were nerds. Mitochondria were jelly beans. The vacuoles were dots. Lysosomes were red and green gobstoppers. Cytoplasm was the jello. Centromes were red hots.

Here is a side view of the finished product, the red and green balls represent lysosomes, the big white spot is the nucleus, with ribosomes and the ER around it.

This is a top view of the cell with the cell membrane removed.

This is a side view of the cell also with cell membrane removed.

Side view with cell membrane.

This picture is when I tried to cut cell in half and give a really good inside view. Wanted to cut nucleus in half but it didn't happen. I hope most of you know what a jawbreaker looks like on the inside. The 3 layers inside the jawbreaker represent the layers of a nucleus.

In the next 6 pictures I tried to represent the phases of mitosis as it would happen in a cell.

EARLY PROPHASE

Centrosomes have duplicated. Chromatin in condensing into chromosomes and the nuclear envelope is fragmenting.






PROPHASE

Nucleolus has disappeared, and duplicated chromosomes are visible. Centrosomes begin moving apart and spindle is in process of forming

EARLY METAPHASE



Each chromatid is attached to a spindle fiber. Some spindle fibers stretch from each spindle pole and overlap.

METAPHASE

Centromeres of duplicated chromosomes are aligned at the equator. Spindle fibers attached to the sister chromatids come from opposite spindle poles.

ANAPHASE

Sister chromatids part and become daughter chromosomes that move toward the spindle poles. Each pole receives the same number and kinds of chromosomes as the parental cell.

TELOPHASE

Daughter cells are forming as nuclear envelopes and nucleoli reappear. Chromosomes will become indistinct chromatin.

In conclusion, I had fun doing this project even though it didn't come out how I perceived it to be. I learned a lot about the cell and its functions while putting this model together. I have great respect for the little things, and I mean little, that happen in our bodies. As little as they might be the are of course a basic unit of life. Without the complexity of it we wouldn't be here or would have major problems. So, yes it was fun and my kids of course enjoyed eating the final product. I am glad I did this because I have a higher understanding than I did before.