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Growth, differentiation and percentile charts
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Living things grow by making more cells and making cells bigger. Doctors track children's growth with percentile charts.
How organisms grow
Animals grow by cell division (mitosis) and differentiation.
Plants grow by cell division, cell elongation and differentiation. Plant cells can keep differentiating throughout life.
Plants grow by cell division, cell elongation and differentiation. Plant cells can keep differentiating throughout life.
Percentile charts
A percentile chart compares a child's measurement with others of the same age.
If a baby is on the 75th percentile for mass, 75% of babies of that age are lighter and 25% are heavier.
If a baby is on the 75th percentile for mass, 75% of babies of that age are lighter and 25% are heavier.
Why track growth
Measurements that cross several percentile lines, or are very high or low, may show a health problem that needs checking.
A child is on the 10th percentile for height. What does this mean?
- 10% of children of the same age are shorter.
- 90% are taller.
Answer: 10% are shorter and 90% are taller.
Animals grow by mitosis and differentiation; plants also grow by cell elongation. On a percentile chart, the nth percentile means n% of the same age are smaller.
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