Chapter 5: Teaching guide

The mitotic cell cycle

Resources available
Topic name Syllabus Number of Coursebook Teacher CD
outcomes lessons material resources
(suggested)

Structure of • Pages 94–96

5.1(a) 2 Activity 5.1
chromosomes • EOCQs 4, 8
• SAQ 5.5
The cell cycle 5.1(c) 1 • EOCQs 1–3
• Page 100
• Pages 97–101
Mitosis 5.2(a), (b) 3 • SAQs 5.1–5.4 Practical 5.1
• EOCQs 5–7, 9
• Box 5.1
Importance of • Page 102
5.1(b) 1 Homework 5.1
mitosis • SAQ 5.6
Telomeres, stem
5.1(d), (e) 3 • Pages 102–106
cells and cancer

Topic 1 Structure of chromosomes

This topic increases students’ knowledge of chromosomes. Time spent examining the structure and
variable number of chromosomes at this point in the course is very worthwhile and will be helpful to
students later on.

Suggested activities
Possible starters
• Remind students of their work on cell structure and the fact that chromosomes (literally, ‘coloured
bodies’) are one of the most easily seen structures in cells and that their significance was realised
at an early stage in the study of cells when it was observed that they appeared and separated in an
organised manner during cell and nuclear division.
• A class set of karyograms for a human female or male (or both) is a useful introduction to a study
of chromosomes and takes things a step further than syllabus section 1. The karyograms can be
referred to frequently during Topics 1–4. Figure 5.2 in the Coursebook is suitable. Activity 5.1
provides a karyogram and a suitable set of questions.
• The concepts karyogram, karyotype, haploid, diploid, and homologous chromosome usually help
students understand more clearly what they are looking at in karyograms and can be introduced in
this introduction to syllabus section 5 at your discretion. The concepts help prepare students for the
later study of meiosis. Note, though, that familiarity with the terms ‘karyogram’ and ‘karyotype’ is
not a syllabus requirement at any stage.

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• The importance of precision in cell and nuclear division can be emphasised by having one or more
karyograms of genetic disorders such as Down syndrome or Klinefelter’s syndrome (either
handouts or projected). Students can be asked to try to identify the abnormalities. Although it can
be pointed out that these are faults of meiosis (studied later in the course), this invariably generates
added interest and relevance for students at the start of this syllabus section (Activity 5.1).
Main lesson content
• This is a purely descriptive topic, so will be enhanced by projections of both simplified diagrams
that students can remember as well as more realistic diagrams. There are some excellent resources,
particularly animations, available on the internet (see ‘Other recommended resources’ below).
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• If the teacher decides to introduce the terms ‘karyogram’ and ‘karyotype’ (as stated above, not a
syllabus requirement) the distinction between the terms is subtle. The distinction between
karyogram and karyotype is subtle. It helps if it is understood that
‘karyo-’ refers to the nucleus, ‘-gram’ refers to a picture (diagram or photograph), and ‘-type’
refers to the typical appearance for that species.
Supporting struggling students
• Animations of nucleosome structure are very helpful (see ‘Other recommended resources’ below).
Note, though, that the concept of the ‘nucleosome’ is not a syllabus requirement and teachers may
prefer to avoid mention of nucleosomes with struggling students.
Challenging high achievers
• High achievers will probably be intrigued to know how the packing ratio is improved after the
nucleosome stage, especially if they are asked to answer EOCQ 8. They could be encouraged to
find out more. Solenoids are mentioned in EOCQ 8. This EOCQ is quite challenging because it
involves some maths.
Homework suggestions
• EOCQ 8
Other recommended resources
Alberts, B. et al. (2013) Essential Cell Biology, 4th edn. Garland Science
Highly recommended. This classic book has a variety of resources for students that are freely available
at www.garlandscience.com/ECB4-students. There are over 130 video clips, animations, molecular
structures and micrographs. The following is a useful animation with explanatory narration:
• ‘DNA and Chromosomes’: Chromosome coiling (showing how nucleosomes are formed as DNA
is packaged into chromatin).

www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/dna-packaging
The same animation as found in Alberts but with a different narration.
BioInteractive at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a free resource for teachers and students. It
includes animations, short films and apps.

Topic 2 The cell cycle

In the Coursebook, the importance of mitosis (syllabus section 5.1b) is dealt with after a description of
the cell cycle and the process of mitosis (syllabus sections 5.1c and 5.2a) on the grounds that it is
easier to understand the significance of mitosis once students know what happens to the chromosomes
during the process. Telomeres, stem cells and cancer (syllabus sections 5.1 d and e) are then dealt with
as building on the basic knowledge of these previous topics. However, the teaching sequence is
obviously a matter for each individual teacher to decide.

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Note for teachers on the difference between chromosomes and chromatids

There is an unfortunate confusion between the terms ‘chromosome’ and ‘chromatid’ which teachers
need to be aware of if they are to help students navigate the use of these two terms. Historically, the
appearance of a characteristic number of heavily stained structures in the nucleus during nuclear
division led to the introduction of the term ‘chromosome’ for each structure, meaning simply
‘coloured body’. The structures thus named were double structures, consisting of two strands held
together at a point termed the ‘centromere’. Later work showed that each strand contained a DNA
molecule and that the existence of two strands was due to the fact that an original single strand had
replicated itself during interphase in preparation for the subsequent division. It could be argued that
in an ideal world it is the single strand that should be called a chromosome. Some teachers therefore
prefer to abandon use of the term chromatid altogether and use instead terms such as single-stranded
or double-stranded chromosome. In any case, the term ‘chromatid’ should only be used to describe
each strand of a two-stranded chromosome; in other words between the stages of prophase and the
point in anaphase when the chromatids separate.

The following table shows stages of the cell cycle and some terms that could be used to avoid
ambiguity. It is suggested that the terms ‘unreplicated chromosome’, ‘replicated chromosome’ and
‘daughter chromosome’ can be used when appropriate to emphasise the precise stage of the cell cycle
being referred to. Where such precision is not needed, the term chromosome could be used. In
addition, the term ‘sister chromatid’ could be used for emphasis.

Stage of cell Recommended terms Notes on use of ‘chromatid’ or

cycle ‘chromosome’

G1 chromosome Individual chromosomes cannot be

or distinguished using a microscope because
unreplicated they are in the diffuse (non-condensed)
chromosome form known as chromatin.

S Chromosomes replicate.

G2 chromosome The identical copies (chromatids) cannot

or yet be distinguished using a microscope.
replicated
chromosome
M (mitosis) prophase chromatids In prophase condensation occurs. The
and or complete visible structure in prophase
metaphase sister chromatids and metaphase is a chromosome,
composed of two identical sister
chromatids joined by a centromere.

anaphase chromosomes In anaphase, sister chromatids can now be

or called daughter chromosomes. The only
daughter difference between sister chromatids and
chromosomes daughter chromosomes is that sister
chromatids are attached at the
centromere, whereas daughter
chromosomes are separate structures.

Cambridge International AS and A Level Biology © Cambridge University Press 2014 3

Suggested activities
Possible starters
• Start by pointing out that whether and when a cell carries out mitosis and division must be
carefully controlled. Note that cancer is one consequence of a lack of control, as will be seen later.
How the cycle is controlled is not dealt with at A level, just a description of the phases of the
cycle. The importance of the control mechanisms can be reaffirmed, however, by pointing out that
they are basically the same in all eukaryotic cells and that they have been so well conserved since
they first evolved over a billion years ago that many of them work perfectly well when transferred
between organisms as different as humans and yeast.

Main lesson content

• Discuss EOCQ 2.
• EOCQs 1 and 3 could also be discussed in class.
• Produce a poster-sized replica of Figure 5.6 in the Coursebook with M, G1, S and G2 labelled.
Ask students to add bead or pipe cleaner replicas of chromosomes to each stage, assuming the cell
contains two or three pairs of chromosomes. (For further information on chromosome modelling,
see Topic 3.)
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• Students often wrongly believe that interphase is a stage of mitosis.
• After S phase, the number of chromatids has doubled; thus a diploid cell (2n) technically becomes
tetraploid (4n) until mitosis takes place to restore the diploid number. The terms chromosome and
chromatid tend to be used interchangeably between mitosis and S phase, although chromosome
is the preferred term.
Supporting struggling students
• See ‘Main lesson content’, third bullet point.
Challenging high achievers
• EOCQ 2 is a conceptually difficult question.
• If these students want more information about control of the cell cycle, they can be directed to the
roles of protein kinases, protein phosphatases and proteins called cyclins as a starting point. These
have wide-ranging functions in biological systems and so the knowledge acquired would be useful
in other areas of the subject.

Homework suggestions
• SAQ 5.2
• EOCQs 1–3 if not covered in class.

Topic 3 Mitosis
The role of the centrosome is described in the Coursebook text, as in Chapter 1. This is because it has
been shown that areas within the centrosome, rather than the centrioles, act as microtubule organising
centres for the spindle.

Suggested activities
Possible starters
• Bead models of chromosomes are extremely useful to start this topic. Poppit beads that can be
joined together to make a string of beads are ideal. Chromosomes can be represented by two
parallel rows of beads, each row representing a chromatid, with some means of attachment to

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 represent the centromere. A pipe-cleaner is an alternative to a row of beads. A set of three
homologous pairs of chromosomes (long, medium and short) will be useful. Use two different
colours for the homologous chromosomes (e.g. one member of each pair red, the other member of
each pair blue). At this stage, the concepts haploid, diploid and homologous pair could be revised
if these have already been introduced. Alternatively, they could be introduced here if felt
appropriate. Test understanding by asking students to explain the significance of the colours, count
how many chromatids are present, select a pair of homologous chromosomes, select a complete set
of chromosomes (the same colour), etc. Place the models on a poster-sized sheet of white paper or
directly on a bench surface. A circular outline of a cell drawn on the sheet is useful; a separate
sheet with the cell outline plus a spindle drawn could be used for stages in which a spindle is
present. Line up the chromosomes as appropriate for each stage. Once each stage has been studied,
the process can be made dynamic by asking individual students to move the model chromosomes
through the whole process. This exercise can easily be repeated any time you wish to recap on the
process or one of its stages.
Main lesson content
• Videos and animations of mitosis are available (see ‘Other recommended resources’ below).
• Plants which are stressed tend to stop cell division. Therefore, if students are to do Practical 5.1, it
is useful not to disturb the growing plants until immediately before use.
• Garlic cloves grown suspended above water with a pin passed through the clove, or onion bulbs,
can be used as a back-up or as a substitute for broad beans (Vicia fabia) in Practical 5.1. Broad
beans, in comparison with other plants, have a smaller number of larger chromosomes which are
easy to see with a microscope, but the plants take longer to grow.
• Use a prepared slide of LS root tip (e.g. Allium sp.) as back-up for Practical 5.1.
• Trying to supervise a large group of students all looking for stages of mitosis for the first time is
difficult. This is a similar situation to that in Chapter 1, Topic 1 and a similar solution can be tried,
namely to use students as demonstrators or mentors (see ‘Supporting struggling students’ in
Chapter 1, Topic 1).
• Hand signals can be used to represent the four stages of mitosis. Fingers are chromosomes. Start
with one hand over a clenched fist to represent prophase. Interlock the fingers for metaphase. Pull
fingers and hands apart for anaphase (happens relatively rapidly, requires force (microtubules)).
Two clenched fists – two telophase nuclei. Expect to observe students doing this in exams.
• After studying mitosis, student understanding could be tested in a 20-minute session by asking
each student to make a set of 2 homologous pairs of chromosomes of different sizes, using two
different colours of pipe-cleaner. Immediately use these to test understanding of the stages of
mitosis, (they can be used later in the course for meiosis if desired). For example, ask students to
draw a large spindle on a plain sheet of A4 paper and use the pipe-cleaners to construct a model of
metaphase. They could draw arrows to indicate the direction in which the chromatids will move.
The teacher can move round the room checking the final product. Students could keep the
chromosomes for self-testing in their own time.
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• Students are often confused about chromosomes and chromatids. They often want to know why a
chromatid suddenly becomes a chromosome at the beginning of anaphase of mitosis.
• Students tend to think that chromosomes appear from nowhere when cells divide. They find it
difficult to link chromatin with chromosomes and to understand that chromosomes are simply the
condensed form of chromatin.
• Similarly, students often imagine that the nuclear envelope and nucleolus are completely lost
during nuclear division, rather than dispersed.
• Centriole, centrosome and centromere may be confused.

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Supporting struggling students
• See ‘Homework suggestions’, first bullet point.
Challenging high achievers
• In Practical 5.1, step 10 suggests a method for estimating the proportion of the cell cycle spent in
mitosis. This exercise could be extended to ask students to plan and carry out a procedure for
comparing the relative lengths of the four stages of mitosis. They can do this by selecting a
suitable sample of dividing cells, counting how many cells are at each of the four stages and
calculating what percentage of the total number of dividing cells each stage represents.

Homework suggestions
• Make a set of two pairs of homologous chromosomes of different sizes, using two different
colours. Use these to self-test the process of mitosis as described above (see ‘Main lesson content’,
seventh bullet point).
• SAQs 5.1, 5.3–5.5
• EOCQs 4–7, 9 (except 9f)
Other recommended resources
Alberts, B. et al. (2013) Essential Cell Biology, 4th edn. Garland Science
Highly recommended. This classic book has a variety of resources for students that are freely available
at www.garlandscience.com/ECB4-students. There are over 130 video clips, animations, molecular
structures and micrographs. The following are useful animations with explanatory narration:
• ‘The Cell Division Cycle’: Plant cell division and Animal cell division (plant and animal cells
dividing). Mitotic spindle is a striking picture of the mitotic spindle of a human cell taken using
fluorescence microscopy.
www.johnkyrk.com
John Kyrk’s website has an animation on mitosis.

Topic 4 Importance of mitosis

Suggested activities
Possible starters
• Depending on the teaching sequence, students may already have begun to have an understanding
of the importance of mitosis. A question-and-answer session, asking students to suggest why
mitosis is important, would be a suitable way of introducing this topic.
• Quick revision of the process of mitosis using the pipe cleaner or bead models at the start of the
lesson might also be useful to reinforce learning (see ‘Supporting struggling students’ below).
Main lesson content
• It is useful to have examples of asexual reproduction which can be projected.
• The commercial significance of artificial cloning could be mentioned, both traditional and new
techniques for plant and animal cloning.

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions

• Students may think of mitosis as cell division. It is a type of nuclear division, not cell division.
There are many examples of mitosis not followed by cytokinesis.
Supporting struggling students
• Students can use bead or pipe clear models to model mitosis, and make the sequence of
chromosome movements clearer in their minds.

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Challenging high achievers
• Find out more about commercial cloning, particularly cloning of mammals. What and how
successful are the techniques? Why is this carried out? What are the ethical issues?

Homework suggestions
• Hydra and Kalanchoe are referred to in the Coursebook as examples of organisms showing
asexual reproduction. Students could research other examples, including artificial cloning carried
out for commercial purposes – a few students could give a brief oral presentation of an example.
• SAQ 5.6
• Homework 5.1

Topic 5 Telomeres, stem cells and cancer

In the Coursebook, these three subtopics are dealt with after students have studied the process of
mitosis. All three demonstrate how an understanding of mitosis can lead to important medical
applications.

Suggested activities
Possible starters
• Students could be made aware of the fact that these three subtopics are all good examples of how a
study of cell division can have important medical applications. All give additional insight into the
process of mitosis and the importance of regulating it precisely.
Main lesson content
• Individual website research (see ‘Homework suggestions’ below).
• There may be an opportunity for brief class debates on some issues raised during a study of these
subtopics. Possible themes include the consequences of significantly slowing the process of ageing
(see ‘Why grow old?’ at the start of Chapter 5 in the Coursebook), the ethical implications of using
stem cells from embryos, cigarette advertising and smoking bans.

Common misunderstandings and misconceptions

• Students may come across the term mutagen in connection with cancer. The distinction between a
mutagen and a carcinogen may not be fully appreciated and could be explained by the teacher.
Supporting struggling students
• Apart from the role of telomeres, the basic concepts involved in this topic are all quite
straightforward. Struggling students should not attempt to understand how telomeres work, but
simply accept their protective role.
Challenging high achievers
• These subtopics provide a good opportunity for students to research an area of interest to
themselves. Students could be asked to give a brief presentation to the rest of the class on an aspect
of one of the subtopics they have found interesting.
• The role of telomeres is difficult to understand at this level. More able students may wish to pursue
this further with their own research. This website may be a good place for them to start their
research
learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/chromosomes/telomeres/

Homework suggestions
• Research the most common form of cancer in your country. More detailed information, such as
incidence and death rates, differences between men and women, trends over time, can also be
researched. The World Health Organisation (WHO) website and the websites of WHO regional
organisations are helpful.

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 This web page from Cancer Research UK is a useful starting place:
www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/world/cancer-worldwide-the-global-picture
• EOCQ 9 is a good revision/test question.

Other recommended resources

www.sciberbrain.org
www.sciberbrain.org/advanced-level
The Biochemical Society has set up a special website for education. There is an advanced-level
animated presentation on stem cells, covering concepts such as potency. A lower-level presentation
(standard level) is also available for a gentler introduction.

cellpics.cimr.cam.ac.uk
More information on stem cells is available from this site.

www.bbsrc.ac.uk/stemcellsresource
Stem Cells: Science and Ethics (3rd edn) is a popular booklet on the science of stem cells and a
consideration of the legal and ethical issues of research using stem cells. It contains classroom
activities and discussion questions. Hard copies are available on request.

www.mrc.ac.uk
Stem Cells: MRC Research for Lifelong Health is a booklet focusing on Medical Research Council
(MRC)-funded research into stem cells, including their potential for repairing damaged body tissues. It
also discusses ethical issues. Download from the MRC website by doing a search using the booklet’s
title or order a hard copy from the MRC.

www.abpischools.org.uk/lib/liPoster/412/stem%20cell.pdf
A clear and attractive poster on stem cell research, produced by the Association of British
Pharmaceutical Societies (ABPI).

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