Name: ______________________Grade/Section: _______________________Subject SCIENCE 8
Teacher: ________________________________ Score: ______________
Lesson : Quarter 4 Week 2 LAS 2
Activity Title : Mitosis
Learning Target : Compare Mitosis and Meiosis, and their role in the cell-division cycle
Reference(s) : LM SCIENCE 8, MELC (S8LTIVd-16)
LAS Writer : Angelica Z. Poton
Alternating with the interphase is the cell division phase. In eukaryotic cells,
there are two types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis.
Mitosis - This type of cell division produces two identical cells with the same number of
chromosomes. Mitosis is divided into four stages.
STAGE A: Prophase. The nuclear membrane and nucleoli may still be present. The chromosomes
are thicker and shorter because of repeated coiling. At this stage, each chromosome is made up of
two identical sister chromatids as a consequence of replication of DNA during the S phase. The two
chromatids produced from one chromosome are still attached at one point, called the centromere.
The centromere may divide the chromosome into the shorter arms, also called the p arms (‘p’ stands
for petite in French) and the longer q arms. If the chromosomes are stained using Giemsa, alternating
dark and light regions will appear. These are the heterochromatin and euchromatin, respectively.
The heterochromatin is more coiled and denser than the euchromatin
(Figure 3).
STAGE B: Metaphase. The nuclear membrane has disappeared while
the highly coiled chromosomes align at the metaphase plate, an imaginary
plane equidistant between the cell’s two poles. Spindle fibers are also
formed. Each fiber binds to a protein called the kinetochore at the
centromere of each sister chromatid of the chromosome.
STAGE C: Anaphase. The paired centromeres of each chromosome
separate towards the opposite poles of the cells as they are pulled by the Figure 3. Parts of
the chromosome.
spindle fibers through their kinetochores. This liberates the sister chromatids.
Each chromatid is now regarded as a full-fledged chromosome and is only made up of one sister
chromatid.
STAGE D: Telophase. The chromosomes are now at the opposite poles of the spindle. They start to
uncoil and become indistinct under the light microscope. A new nuclear membrane forms around
them while the spindle fibers disappear. There is also cytokinesis or the division of the cytoplasm to
form two separate daughter cells immediately after mitosis.
Direction: Write the correct answer on the blanks.
_______1. Chromosomes are now at the opposite poles of the spindle.
_______2. The paired centromeres of each chromosome separate towards the opposite poles of the
cells as they are pulled by the spindle fibers through their kinetochores.
_______3. The chromosomes are thicker and shorter because of repeated coiling
_______4. The nuclear membrane has disappeared while the highly coiled chromosomes align at the
metaphase plate, an imaginary plane equidistant between the cell’s two poles.
_______5. This type of cell division produces two identical cells with the same number of
chromosomes.
