Hey future biologists! 👋 You ready to dive into the microscopic world of cells? Today, we're gonna talk about how to identify phases of mitosis using a root tip squash experiment! Yep, you heard me, we're making a cell smoothie 🥤 and looking at it under a microscope 🔬. Don't worry, it's not as gruesome as it sounds. Let's roll!

Mitosis is the process where a single cell divides into two identical daughter cells. It's like cell cloning! This is super important for growth, repair, and general maintenance of our bodies. Imagine you scrape your knee; mitosis is what helps you heal.

• Start the Root Growing: Grab a garlic clove (yup, the stuff in garlic bread 🍞) and suspend it in water using toothpicks for at least 3 days. You're looking for roots to grow.

• Fixation Time: Cut those newly grown roots and fix them in a mix of 70% ethanol and a smidgen (1 part) of pure ethanoic acid for 24 hours. This basically 'freezes' the cells, so they stay put.

• Acid Bath 🛁: Get those roots into 0.1 moldm–3 hydrochloric acid at 40°C for 5 minutes. Put on eye protection—this stuff isn't lemonade. 🍋 This loosens up the cell walls so they're easier to squash later.

• Get the Color In: Cut off 20-30mm of the root tips and dunk them in 1% toluidine blue stain. Gloves on, folks! This stain is gonna make the DNA in the cells stand out like neon signs at a night market. 🌃

• Smash 'n Look 👀: Rinse off the stain and gently squash the root tips under a cover slip. Start spying on those cells using a microscope. First use low power, then crank it up to medium.