The Cell Cycle and Hallmarks of Cancer

From Inside Cancer Wiki

Lesson Overview

This is a lesson to teach students about the life cycle of a cell and cellular functions including growth, division (mitosis), repair, and cell death (apoptosis). It is intended for use in an introductory high school biology class. The cell processes are taught through a disease theme, in this case, exploring cancer.

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Description of Activity

The lesson has 3 parts to it. It begins with a writing prompt to engage students in a class discussion about aging and death. From that the Hayflick limit idea is introduced – that cells have a limited number of times they can divide. This idea is compared to cancer cells which are essentially immortal. Students then explore the Inside Cancer website to learn about the Hallmarks of Cancer. Next, the students explore the events of mitosis and the cell cycle by constructing a simple mitosis puzzle and taking notes on the events happening at each stage. Finally, students revisit the Inside Cancer site to find where disruption of the normal life cycle occurs in cancer cells.

For details, please open the accompanying file. Media:The_Cell_Cylce_and_Hallmarks_of_Cancer.doc‎