The phases of mitosis – where eurcaryote cells (that’s animals, plants, fungi… but not bacteria and the other prokaryotes) divide to create two identical copies of themselves can be tricky to remember. To make learning sequences easier – I like to write poems and songs of little artistic merit. Here is my haiku cycle ‘Mitosis.’ I hope you enjoy it.
Interphase nothing
But no – DNA doubles
So on to prophase
Chromosomes contract
And spindles begin to form
So begins prophase
Chromatids now seen
Nucleolus disappears
Chromosomes shorten
On to metaphase
Chromosomes on equator
Centromeres attach
Early anaphase
Chromatids move towards poles
Because spindles pull
Chromatids at poles
Cell membrane invaginates
Telophase begins
In late telophase
Two daughters can now be seen
The cycle completes