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Mitosis worksheet: the cell cycle and the stages of mitosis

A free, printable worksheet for high school and AP Biology. Students work through interphase, every stage of mitosis and cytokinesis in a human cell with 46 chromosomes, then the checkpoints that control the cycle.

Download the PDF (free)Answer key (Teacher plan)

What's inside

  1. Vocabulary (10 terms)
  2. The cell cycle (4 questions)
  3. Mitosis and cytokinesis (6 questions)
  4. Control and differentiation (3 questions)

Teach it with the 3D lesson

Every question matches a step in CytoTour's 3D chapter on the cell cycle and mitosis, which shows a human cell with all 46 chromosomes. Read the steps with pictures on the stages of mitosis, step by step, or project the lesson in class — Chapter 1 is free, and the Teacher plan opens every chapter.

The worksheet

This is the printable sheet (14 questions). Printing this page prints only the worksheet.

CytoTour · cytotour.com · free to print and copy for your classes

The cell cycle and mitosis

NameDatePeriod

Part 1 · Vocabulary

1. Write the letter of the matching description next to each term.

  1. Interphase
  2. S phase
  3. Sister chromatids
  4. Cohesin
  5. Centromere
  6. Centrosome
  7. Kinetochore
  8. Metaphase plate
  9. Cytokinesis
  10. Checkpoint
  1. AWhere sister chromatids are held together most tightly
  2. BA control point that lets the cycle continue only when conditions are right
  3. CG1, S and G2 — where a cell spends most of its cycle
  4. DMicrotubule-organizing center, duplicated during interphase
  5. EThe two identical copies that make up a replicated chromosome
  6. FProtein structure at the centromere that binds spindle microtubules
  7. GThe stage in which the DNA is replicated
  8. HProteins that hold sister chromatids together
  9. IThe plane at the cell's equator where chromosomes line up
  10. JDivision of the cytoplasm into two daughter cells

Part 2 · The cell cycle

2. What does the cell do in each stage of interphase: G1, S and G2?

3. In which stage of interphase does the cell replicate its DNA?

  1. AG1
  2. BS
  3. CG2
  4. DMitosis

4. A human body cell has 46 chromosomes. After S phase, how many sister chromatids does it have?

  1. A23
  2. B46
  3. C92
  4. D184

5. What is G0? Give an example of cells that stay in G0 permanently.

Part 3 · Mitosis and cytokinesis

6. Put the stages of mitosis and cytokinesis in order. Number them 1–6.

  1. Anaphase
  2. Telophase
  3. Cytokinesis
  4. Metaphase
  5. Prometaphase
  6. Prophase

7. Describe what happens in each stage.

What happens
Prophase
Metaphase
Anaphase
Telophase

8. Where do the chromosomes line up during metaphase?

  1. AAt the two poles
  2. BIn one plane at the cell's equator — the metaphase plate
  3. CInside the nucleus
  4. DAlong the plasma membrane

9. What happens to let the sister chromatids separate in anaphase?

  1. ACohesin breaks down and spindle microtubules pull the chromatids to opposite poles
  2. BThe nuclear envelope pushes them apart
  3. CThe DNA is replicated again
  4. DThe contractile ring cuts them apart

10. After mitosis and cytokinesis, how many chromosomes does each human daughter cell have?

  1. A23
  2. B46
  3. C92
  4. DIt varies

11. How does cytokinesis differ in animal cells and plant cells?

Part 4 · Control and differentiation

12. What does the M (spindle) checkpoint check, and why must it happen before anaphase?

13. What can happen to a cell or organism when the cell cycle is disrupted?

14. Why are a muscle cell and a nerve cell from the same person different?

  1. AThey contain different DNA
  2. BThey use different genes of the same DNA
  3. CThey have different numbers of chromosomes
  4. DThey were made by meiosis