What Are Chromosomes?

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Chromosomes are structures made of tightly coiled DNA and proteins. Human body cells have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), while sex cells have 23 chromosomes.

Key words

cell
The tiny building block that makes up all living things.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Model mitosis using pipe cleaners as chromosomes. Show each phase: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Compare the before and after states.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write your conclusion: did the results match your hypothesis? What would you change next time?

Question 1 of 3

How many chromosomes do human body cells have?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What is a Punnett square used for?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What is meiosis?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Meiosis and Sex Cells All lessons

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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What Are Chromosomes?

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