Fourth Grade
Worksheets
The Cell Cycle -- Interphase
All living things are made of cells. Our bodies are made of cells. As we grow, our cells don't grow much bigger. Our bodies just keep adding more cells. Where do new cells come from?
Cells make more cells by dividing. First, each cell gets a little bigger. Then it divides (or splits) into two cells. Those two cells grow a little. Then they split, making four cells. Four cells divide and make eight cells. All cells arise (or come) from pre-existing cells.
Before a cell can divide, it must first copy (or replicate) its genetic material (DNA), found in the nucleus. DNA has the instructions needed for the new cell to maintain, repair, and copy itself. The series of steps the cell goes through from one division until the next is called the cell cycle.
