1. Meiosis

2. Meiosis produces gametes
Meiosis- makes the body’s reproductive cells (sperm & eggs) *only occurs in reproductive structures*
Your body has two types of cells: somatic and gametic
Mitosis produces somatic cells while Meiosis produces gametic cells.

3. Thought Question: Gametic or Somatic?
Answer whether each cell is gametic or somatic using the chart on the thought question’s side.

4. Mitosis vs. Meiosis
During Meiosis, DNA is copied once but divided twice.
This means that unlike mitosis there are 4 daughter cells, each with only 1 copy of each chromosome

5. Diploid vs. Haploid
The 2 daughter cells in mitosis are known as diploid, because they have two copies of each gene (2n).
In meiosis there are 4 daughter cells that are known as haploid because they only have one copy of each gene (n).

6. Meiosis and Mitosis- The big picture
Mitosis results in 2 genetically identical daughter cells
Meiosis results in 4 genetically unique daughter cells
***Meiosis is more significant than mitosis for reproduction because it increases the variability of genetic information***

7. Thought Question
Answer on the thought questions side: Which do you think would affect offspring more: A mutation in a parent’s somatic cells or a mutation in the parent’s gametic cells? Defend your answer.

8. Crossing Over
Genetic variation comes from a process called crossing over during Prophase 1 of meiosis 1.
During this step, homologous chromosomes (1 from Mom and 1 from Dad) lay exchange pieces of genetic material. The result is a unique set of genetic information.

9. Thought Question: Crossing Over
Draw the process of crossing over in the box on your thought questions side and answer the remaining questions.