This is how I solved the driving question for the Mitosis Models Scimatics project. The driving question for this project is: How is the reproduction of cells essential to the survival of organisms?
I will write the answer to this at the bottom of my post. For this project we had to make models representing mitosis and meiosis and put them into a video.
Here is my video
This is my review and process of creating the video.
I think that if I were to do it again then I would make sure to elaborate on meiosis as I was more focused on mitosis.
I think that the finished video looks pretty cool, and I am proud of the final result.
The Curricular Competencies for this project are:
- Questioning and predicting: Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest
This means that all class time is used for learning without distractions.
I did not do amazing in this category, as I did get distracted a few times, which was not that good, but I did also find interest in this project, so I was paying a lot of attention during the parts where we used the microscope.
2) Planning and conducting: Collaboratively and individually plan, select, and use appropriate investigation methods, including field work and lab experiments, to collect reliable data
This means that microscope slides of plant tissues from clones were prepared and used for photographic evidence of mitosis.
I think that I did okay for this specific competency, as I had some good images of the cells in the garlic, but I ended up using pre-made specimens in the end, which worked out really well.
3) Scientific Communication: Formulate physical or mental theoretical models to describe a phenomenon
This means that a recorded video with voice narration explains the reasons for and processes of mitosis and meiosis with accurate 3D models and photographs. Similarities and differences are also described.
I think that I preformed mediocre in this competency as I ended up finishing the video later than I was supposed to, and there was one major difference that I missed.
The steps that I took to make this were:
Milestone 1: For this milestone we made a project start mind map
Milestone 2: For this milestone we completed the tutorials in TinkerCad
Milestone 3: For this milestone we did a Khan Academy quiz
Milestone 4 Part 1: For this milestone we made our Mitosis Models
Milestone 4 Part 2: For this milestone we made our Meiosis Models
Milestone 5: For this milestone we took pictures of garlic root cells
Milestone 6: For this milestone we made a video on mitosis and meiosis which I will leave here
Milestone 7: For this milestone we made the blog post which I am doing right now.
As the answer to the driving question, cell reproduction is important for growth and diversity of organisms, if there is no cell reproduction from mitosis then no living multicellular organism can grow, and if there is no meiosis then everybody would be extremely similar and they would all be susceptible to one specific disease.
I learned a lot about cell reproduction, mitosis, and meiosis in this project.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and have a great day.