Cell Biology Mission
Explore the building blocks of life — cell structure, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, enzyme kinetics, and the cell cycle.
9 activities · Work through in order for a complete lesson arc
Photosynthesis Explorer
Explore photosynthesis rates under different light intensities, CO2 concentrations, and temperatures. See light response curves, compensation and saturation points, absorption vs action spectra, and the law of limiting factors.
Cellular Respiration Explorer
Explore glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and electron transport chain. Compare aerobic vs anaerobic respiration, calculate ATP yields for glucose, fat, and protein substrates, and see how temperature affects metabolic rate.
Enzyme Kinetics Explorer
Explore Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics with interactive plots. Adjust Vmax, Km, substrate concentration, and add competitive, uncompetitive, or noncompetitive inhibitors. View Lineweaver-Burk double-reciprocal plots and temperature/pH activity curves.
Transpiration Explorer
Explore stomatal conductance, transpiration rates, and water potential. Adjust leaf area, stomatal density, humidity, wind, and temperature to simulate potometer experiments and cohesion-tension water transport.
See how water moves through plants.
Cell Cycle / Mitosis-Meiosis Viewer
Interactive viewer for cell division. Step through every phase of mitosis and meiosis with SVG chromosome visualizations. Track chromosome number (2n vs n), see crossing over and independent assortment in meiosis, and compare both division types side by side. Presets for human (2n=46), fruit fly (2n=8), onion (2n=16), and simple (2n=4) cells.
Photosynthesis Lab
Investigate photosynthesis rates under different light intensities, CO2 concentrations, and temperatures. Discover limiting factors, find light compensation and saturation points, and measure net O2 production experimentally
Cellular Respiration Lab
Measure CO2 production and O2 consumption under different conditions. Compare aerobic vs anaerobic respiration, test temperature effects on metabolic rate, and calculate respiratory quotient for different substrates
Enzyme Activity Lab
Investigate enzyme activity by measuring reaction rates under different substrate concentrations, temperatures, and pH levels. Fit data to the Michaelis-Menten model, determine Km and Vmax experimentally, and explore competitive inhibition effects
Mitosis & Meiosis Lab
Count cells in different mitotic phases to calculate mitotic index. Estimate phase durations from proportions, compare cell cycle timing, and test phase distribution with chi-square analysis
Capstone — compare mitosis and meiosis.