AP Bio Cells and Genetics

Students in AP Biology explore a wide variety of topics, but it’s always best when we can prove that these are real processes that happen in real living things.  One of the common activities for this course in any school is to calculate the time that cells spend in each phase of their growth and division based on the proportions of cells in each phase.  This is usually done with premade slides and a microscope, but this year we took it further.  Students were asked to collect tissue samples from the roots of green onions and stain them themselves so they were working with real and relatable samples.  This activity allowed students to revisit a variety of lab skills including microscopy and math skills as they perform their data analysis using statistical tests and methods.  Students also have to display that they know their content to be able to identify cells in various phases of division.  This may not have the gross-out factor of some biology labs, but students got to truly do science and deepen their understanding at the same time.