By: Emma McElligott Ira Bhatnagar

1. By: Emma McElligott Ira Bhatnagar

2. Meet the Babushka, with the yellow feet: The Babushka’s alone…. He tries to meet Someone like him With similar hands and feet. Each chromosome’s different He searched for homologous He saw a a creature with similar feet but it was just the Dodologous.

3. The Babushka grows Until he can’t anymore Tall as a tower He’s 10’ 4” Tired and hungry, He stops to eat He finds some berries That’s called Schmeet. Something funny happens The babushka starts to tingle His hands and feet replicate The poor babushka had hands and feet which were once single. Dodologous

4. After the growth was complete The Babushka got big defined hands and feet! But oh their hands and feet were tangled! What a nuisence, they were unangled! “Oh dear, oh dear What happened here?” The doctor looked near As the babushka’s started to tear. “No worries we can fix it!” And in a moment He swingled and he twingled An idea he did invent.

5. After swingling and twingling The doctor was done The Babushka looked down Tangled hands and feet were none. There were toes on two hands and fingers on two legs (one leg was right) The babushka didn’t notice And didn’t start a fight. “Oh thank you!” He said in glee.

6. The other babushka had one arm While the other arm had toes on its hand He had a leg with a normal foot And a leg with fingers The color of sand. Feeling a little unusual and alone He decides to replicate. So he can have a friend With whom he can relate. The replication occurs And the babushka splits in two With one short arm And another with toes askew. that babushka had one normal foot and the other had fingers in place of toes The babushka didn’t notice it hardly shows. The Babushka’s proud, walked down the street, While a clown with big feet Decided to play a joke He pulls balloons out of his pocket and fashions a rope.

7. He tied some knots and lassoed their hands and feet. He tried to stifle his laughter But could not be discreet. The babushkas trip And fall on their face The babushkas are angry And yell: “It’s a disgrace!” The clown pulls the rope And their hands and feet pop off. The babushkas are infuriated, Which only makes the clown scoff . “I say! Give us back our feet!” “Come on, give it back you cheat!”

8. New baby babushka’s grow into the pulled hands and feet And say “hello” In a voice sweet. It must have been the berries “how neat..” say the babushka’s As they look curiously at the feet The clown again fashions his rope. The clown pulls the feet off the baby baushka’s. And more babushka’s appear. The clown is frightened And to his mothers home he runs in fear. But not without collecting a hand and foot From each babushka to remember this day He puts it in a jar and runs away.

9. The two grown up babushka’s Look at their new family they see And say, “Well can you look at that, How many feet can you meet.”

10. Explanations: • Key: • The Cells – The Babushka’s. (The Parent Cell – the original babushka) • The Chromosomes – the hands and the feet • The genes which are crossed over during synapsis – “the right toes on the left foot, and the right ones on the left” • The doctor’s tools/balloon rope – spindle fibers • Meiosis: • ~Interphase: the babushka grows until he can’t grow anymore (G1, and G2 phase) The different sizes of the replicated feet and hands of the babushka are the homologous chromosomes. • ~Prophase 1: The babushka’s big feet and hands show the chromatin condensing into tetrads. The babushka’s feet get entangled. This represents the chromosomes in the cell crossing over. When the doctor does his “ swingling and twingling” the fingers go on the one of the replicated legs, while the other fingers go on one of the normal long legs. This represents the certain genes on the chromosomes switching places during synapsis. The fingers go on the left long normal hand, while the rest go on the short right hand. But overall it doesn’t affect the babushka, like the crossing over doesn’t affect the cell. Also when the babushka’s start to cry, it represents the nuclear envelope breaking down.

11. Explanation’s Continued… ~Metaphase 1 – the babushka’s fall their hands and feet stretched. This represents the chromosomes lining up at the equatorial plate. Also, The clown’s balloon lassoe, is around their feet, showing the spindle fibers connected to the chromosomes, at the kinetechores, a place so great. ~Anaphase 1 – the clown pulls on the lassoe, and the hands and feet are pulled off – representing the chromosomes being pulled apart by the spindle fibers. ~Telophase 1 (and Cytokinesis) – the new babushka’s grow into the hands and feet – new cell are formed. ~Interkinesis – pause. ~Prophase II – The clown fashions his rope representing the spindle fibers from the centrioles. ~Metaphase II – The clown lassoes the rope around their feet, showing the spindle fibers attaching at the kinetechores of the sister chromatids. ~Anaphase II – the clown pulls their feet, and the babushka’s hands and feet pop off. The spindle fibers pull the sister chromatids apart. ~Telophase II (and Cytokinesis) – new new baby babushka are grown. New cells have formed.

12. Bibliography: Works Cited “The Doctor.” www.images.google.com. 17 Mar. 2009 <http://http://www.clipartguide.com/‌_named_clipart_images/‌0511-0712-1412-0914_Doctor_Holding_a_Scalpel_clipart_image.jpg>. “The Dodologous.” www.images.google.com. 17 Mar. 2009 <http://http://share-sports.3ds.com/‌wp-content/‌uploads/‌2008/‌05/‌dr-seuss-feet.jpg>. Geisel, Theodor Seuss. The Foot Book. N.p.: n.p., 1968. “The yellow foot.” www.images.google.com. 17 Mar. 2009 <http://http://i2.iofferphoto.com/‌img/‌1106208000/‌_i/‌5297444/‌1.jpg>.