1. The Basketball Game
By Michael Soskind

2. Road
Once upon a time, in a small school on the outskirts of Oklahoma there were some school kids. This week was school spirit week, where they were getting ready for the big basketball game. The school sent the losers to the school down the road.

3. The day was Friday, the day of the big game
The day was Friday, the day of the big game. Friday’s spirit week costume was twin day. Each person had to dress up as another person in the school.

4. When the “twins” came to school, they were hyped up that they would be playing basketball at the end of their school day. They all were gathering around one another, talking about the big game, buzzing with excitement.

5. As school was ending, all order was dissolving, and everybody joined into just a select few clusters of people. The two most athletic kids in the school, Jim and John, were also the only natural twins. They both came to school together, but ever since, they had been inching apart.

6. Twins
Twins
It was then the end of the day, and the emotions of the school had erupted into pure chaos. The kids were in the gym, waiting for everybody to calm down. Meanwhile, Jim and John chose their teams through verbal commitment. They extended their arms and shook hands with each of the kids to seal the deal.

7. The kids were ready to get the game started, so they sat down on the half court line, waiting for Jim and John to pick them for their teams. The two twins helped their soon-to-be teammates off of the ground with their outstretched arms.

8. Soon, everybody on the team was picked, and Jim, John, and the clusters of kids standing next to the two twins were ready to play basketball.

9. The game finally started, and the kids were playing a spread offense, allowing for one-on-one looks for the twins to put up big points. As one twin scored a bucket, the other twin would come right back and find a way to get points for his team.

10. Home:
Period:
Guests:
This game was going to be close. It was tied with 5 seconds left in the game, Jim’s, team had the ball. Jim knew that he could not win the game alone, so he came up with a plan. He would inbound the ball, get the ball back, drive up the court, and pass it to Jonah, the best kid other than Jim, for Jonah to shoot.

11. Home:
Period:
Guests:
And the play worked! It was the end of the game, and Jim’s team had won! Now that the two teams had sealed the game (and whether they were staying at the school), John’s team packed up to go to the school across the road, and all order was restored after the hectic game day.

12. Key to Symbolism Cells - the two different schools
Nuclear Envelope – the school’s emotion
Nucleus – the gym/ basketball court
Centrosomes - the twins (Jim and John)
Chromosomes - the individual people
Equator - half court line
Chromatin – the basketball teams
Sister Chromatid - the twins of the kids
Kinetochores - Jim and Joe’s muscles
Spindle Fibers - the twins’ fingers/arms
The Game - the time it takes for a cell to divide

13. Explanation of Symbolism
The kids (chromosomes) live calmly in Oklahoma, where they eat and sleep. This week they are getting ready for mitosis (the big game).
On Friday, it is twin day, so the chromosomes (kids) are being duplicated (dressing up as one another).
The twins (sister chromatids) coming to school are condensing around in groups in the school.
With the order (nuclear envelope) dissolving, there is nothing keeping the twins (sister chromatids) from
condensing even more and allowing Jim and John (centrosomes) to separate.
The end of the day is pure chaos (nucleus entirely broken) and the twins (sister chromatids) are lining up at the half court line (equator)
The kids (chromosomes) are picked up by the twins with outstretched arms (spindle fibers) one of each twin (chromosomes) from the halfway line.
After the Game the two teams (nuclei) separate and live their own regular lives until the next big game.

14. Bibliography
(For the Duke vs. FSU game)
All other photos and clipart came from the clipart built into Microsoft PowerPoint 2003.