Xiangxiang li

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Student Exploration: Meiosis

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and

prompts in the orange boxes.

Vocabulary: anaphase, chromosome, crossover, cytokinesis, diploid, DNA, dominant, gamete, genotype, germ

cell, haploid, homologous chromosomes, interphase, meiosis, metaphase, mitosis, ovum, phenotype,

prophase, recessive, sister chromatid, sperm cell, telophase, zygote

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. During mitosis, a single cell divides to produce two daughter cells. What must happen in the original cell

so that each of the daughter cells has a complete set of chromosomes?

It is important that the daughter cells have a copy of every chromosome, so the process involves
copying the chromosomes rst and then carefully separating the copies to give each new cell a full
set.
2. During sexual reproduction, two sex cells fuse to create a fertilized cell with a complete set of
chromosomes. What must be true about the number of chromosomes in each sex cell?

The DNA must be copied so there is a full set of DNA to pass on to each daughter cell.

Gizmo Warm-up
Meiosis is a type of cell division that results in four daughter cells with half

as many chromosomes as the parent cell. These daughter cells mature into

gametes, or sex cells. In the Meiosis Gizmo, you will learn the steps in

meiosis and experiment to produce customized sex cells and offspring.

On the STEPS tab, click Male. You are looking at a germ cell, or a cell

that will undergo meiosis to become gametes.

1. Read the description of interphase at the bottom of the Gizmo. What happens to the cell at the beginning
of interphase?

cells grow synthesize mRNA and proteins required for DNA synthesis

2. Click on the DNA in the nucleus of the cell. Describe what happens.

DNA is copied and the dell grows some more.

3. Why is it necessary for the cell to grow and duplicate its DNA before the start of meiosis?

2 DNA sets.
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Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity A:
● Make sure the STEPS tab is selected.

● If necessary, choose the Male cell. Click on the

Steps in meiosis

DNA to copy it to proceed to prophase I.

Introduction: Unlike mitosis, which produces two identical daughter cells from one parent cell, meiosis creates

four unique daughter cells with half the amount of DNA as the parent cell.

Question: How does meiosis create four daughter cells from one parent cell?

1. Observe: (Prophase I) Click on the nucleus to break it down then click on the DNA to condense it into

chromosomes. Drag the centrosomes to the top and bottom of the cell.

A. How many chromosomes does this cell have? 4 pairs

Each chromosome consists of a pair of sister chromatids,

two identical strands of DNA that formed when DNA

replicated during interphase.

B. On the image to the right, Draw two lines connecting the

pairs of homologous chromosomes (chromosomes of similar

size with a matching set of genes). Click the image to select

EDIT to use the drawing tool.

In the Gizmo, drag the homologous chromosomes together.

Click Continue.

2. Observe: (Metaphase I and Anaphase I) - Drag the groups of homologous chromosomes to the

metaphase plate, then drag spindle fibers from each of the centrosomes to the chromosomes. Click the

centrosome to pull the chromosomes apart.

How do the chromosomes separate in anaphase I?

sister chromatids het pulled to either end of the cell.

3. Compare: An image of the anaphase step in mitosis is shown to the right.

mitosis breaks the chromatids into 4. meiosis pulls 2

A. How does anaphase I in meiosis chromatids apart.

differ from anaphase in mitosis?

B. At the end of anaphase I (meiosis), how many 2

chromosomes are on each side?

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4. Observe: Telophase I and cytokinesis are the final steps of the first half of meiosis.

chromosomes unravel and the nuclear envelope

A. Describe what happens when you click on the

chromosomes during telophase I. reforms around them .

B. Click and drag on the contractile ring. Describe Structure made of actin and myosin laments that

what happened during cytokinesis.

forms a belt around a dividing cell, pinching it in

two.
5. Observe: Go through the steps of the second half of meiosis until you reach the end of telophase II,

following the instructions at the top right corner. As you proceed, answer the questions below. Use the Back

button if you need to see a step again.

A. Before prophase II begins, does the DNA in

No
the cell duplicate itself?

B. During metaphase II, do homologous

No

chromosomes pair up as in metaphase I?

anaphase I has chromosomes, anaphase II has

C. How does anaphase II differ from anaphase I?

sister chromatids

D. At the end of anaphase II, how many

chromatids are on each side of the cell?

2

E. Are all of the cells the same size?

Yes

The original parent cell is called diploid because it contains a complete set of homologous

chromosome pairs. Each of the four daughter cells is haploid, meaning that each contains half of

the original parent cell’s chromosomes. Each daughter cell contains one chromatid from each

homologous pair.

6. Observe: Click on the spermatids. Spermatids that formed from

meiosis will develop into mature male gametes called sperm cells.

Mature sperm cells have only a small amount of cytoplasm and use their flagella, or “tails,” to

propel themselves forward. Sperm are designed for one purpose, to deliver genetic material to

the egg cell during fertilization.

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Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

Comparing female ● Make sure the STEPS tab is selected.

and male gametes ● Click Reset.

Introduction: Although both male and female gametes contain genetic material from the parent organism,

they perform different functions. A male gamete delivers genetic material to a female gamete. The fertilized

female gamete, called a zygote, then grows into the offspring.

Question: What are the differences in meiosis between male and female cells?

1. Compare: Click on the Female button. For the female cell, proceed through meiosis until you reach the end

of anaphase I.

Up to this point, did you notice any differences between the development of male and female gametes?

Explain.

In species with two separate sexes, the sex that produces the smaller and more motile sex cell

or gamete is called the male. Explain: Male mammals produce gametes called sperm while female

mammals produce gametes called eggs.

2. Compare: Proceed through telophase I and cytokinesis I.

A. What do you notice about the size of the two 3 small, 1 large

resulting cells?

B. How does this compare to the two cells at the end

Many cells that undergo rapid meiosis do not decondense

of telophase I and cytokinesis I in male cells?

the chromosomes at the end of telophase I. Other cells do

exhibit chromosome decondensation at this time; the

3. Compare: Continue through meiosis until you finish telophase II and cytokinesis II.

chromosomes recondense in prophase II.

A. What do you notice about the four cells

now? All 3 of the cells are the same size an their

is one larger one

B. What is the largest cell called?

OVUM
The ovum is the largest cell in the human

body. In contrast, the sperm cell is the

smallest cell in the human body.

C. What are the small cells called?

Polar Bodies

Polar bodies are small cells that develop as a byproduct of meiosis in females. In humans and most

other animals, these cells play no significant role and soon die.

4. Think and discuss: Why do you think egg cells are large and sperm cells are small?

An egg cell has to be able to create a new life, while a sperm cell just carries genetics

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Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity C:

● Make sure the STEPS tab is selected.

Genetic diversity ● Click Reset.

Introduction: The activities above shows that organisms can produce at least four different gametes. In reality,

organisms can produce millions of genetically unique gametes.

Question: How can meiosis create an unlimited number of unique gametes?

1. Experiment: Use the following abbreviations for the chromosomes. Dark green – DG; Light green – LG;

Dark purple – DP, Light purple – LP. Choose a Male or Female cell.

A. Proceed through meiosis to anaphase I. Which chromosomes went up and which went down?

Chromosomes Anaphase
Up: Down:

B. Click Back and run anaphase I again a few times. Did the results ever change? Explain.

Chromosomes are distributed randomly during anaphase I.

C. Chromosomes are distributed randomly during anaphase I. What are the possible chromosome

combinations in the two daughter cells? (Use DG, LG, DP, and LP.)

There are (223) possible combinations of maternal and paternal chromosomes.

2. Experiment: Click Reset. Choose a Male or Female cell. Proceed through meiosis until the chromosomes

are condensed in Prophase I.

Drag the LG (light green) chromosome to the Allele map on the left. This shows the alleles (or variations of
a gene) that are present on the chromosome. A genotype is a list of alleles. The genotype of the LG

chromosome, for example, is EEFFGGHHJJ.

A. What are the genotypes of the remaining chromosomes?

DG:Light green LP: Dark greenDP: Light purple

B. After moving the centrosomes, drag the pairs of homologous chromosomes together.

Click on a chromosome. What happens? It creates a crossover

When homologous chromosomes are paired up, they can exchange sections. This exchange of genes is

called a crossover.

C. Click on several segments to create crossovers, and then click Continue. Proceed to anaphase I.

Drag each chromosome to the Allele map and write its genotype.

LG: DG DG: LP LP: DP DP: LP

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3. Think and discuss: In this Gizmo, only one crossover is allowed in each segment. In reality, crossovers can

occur at almost any point along the chromosome. How do the random distribution of chromosomes and

crossovers create more variation in the resulting gametes?

homologous chromosomes are paired up, they can exchange sections it allows different combinations
of chromosomes in the resulting gametes. Crossovers farther randomly mix up the alleles that each
gametes would receive creating almost unlimited numbers.
4. Explore: Meiosis is a complicated process. What happens when something goes wrong?

A. Click Reset and choose a male or female cell. Click

parent cell does not start without DNA so the

Skip. Describe what would happen if meiosis

occurred without DNA replication. gametes may be missing some material.

B. Click Back. Proceed through meiosis until the

chromosomes are lined up along the metaphase

chromosomes do not segregate properly.

plate. Click Skip. Describe what would happen if

the chromosomes did not attach to spindle fibers Daughter cell may have inconsistent materials.

during metaphase I.

C. Click Back. Proceed through meiosis until the

chromatids are connected to spindle fibers at chromosomes do not segregate properly. sister

Anaphase II. Click Skip. Describe what would chromatids may end up in same gametes.

happen if sister chromatids were not pulled apart at

anaphase II.

D. Click Back. Proceed through meiosis until

cytokinesis II. Click Skip. Describe what would The cell does not serrate. it may result in

happen if cytokinesis did not occur. polyploidy.

During meiosis, there are checkpoints that stop cell division if anything goes wrong. However, these checks

do not always work. Abnormal cell division during meiosis can lead to genetic disorders. Trisomy 21 (Down

syndrome), for example, occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome 21 in one of the sex cells.

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Activity D: Get the Gizmo ready:

Crossover ● Select the EXPERIMENTATION tab.

challenge ● Select the Free explore radio button.

Introduction: Earlier, you learned how crossovers can result in genetically diverse gametes. In this activity,

you will perform crossovers in parent cells undergoing meiosis and combine the resulting gametes to produce

offspring with specific genotypes.

Question: How can offspring be created that have a specific phenotype and genotype?

1. Explore: The EXPERIMENTATION tab shows a simplified fruit fly genome, with a single pair of homologous

chromosomes. Each chromosome has genes that control wing shape, body color, antenna type, and eye
color. The uppercase alleles are dominant and the lower case alleles are recessive. The allele key is

given at lower left. (Note that real fruit flies have eight chromosomes and many more genes.)

A. Click Reset. Without creating any crossovers,

click Divide into gametes. What are the CBLR or cbrl

possible genotypes of the gametes?

Bb Aa Ab

B. Click Show phenotype for each combination.

What are the resulting phenotypes?

C. Click Show phenotype for each combination.

What are the resulting phenotypes? 2

2. Experiment: Click Reset. You can create crossovers by clicking on the middle chromatids in each of the

parent cells.

A. Create a gamete with the genotype C b l r. First, click on the

c gene in one of the parent cells to create the crossover. Yes

Then, click Divide into gametes. Did you create a gamete

with the genotype C b l r?

B. Click Reset. Create a gamete with the genotype: c b L R.

How many crossover were needed to create this gamete? Just one

When a crossover occurs, the entire portion of genetic

material is swapped between the two homologous

chromosomes, so gene C is swapped along with gene B Two

and gene R is swapped along with gene L.

C. Click Reset. Create a c B L r gamete. How many crossovers

were needed?

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3. Challenge: Select the Challenge radio button. Make sure that Target offspring 1 is selected in the

dropdown menu.

Target offspring 1 is a fruit fly with normal wings (cc), a black body (bb), normal antenna (ll) and red eyes
(Rr). Because the offspring receives one chromatid from each parent, each chromatid should come from a

different parent.

A. Using the Gizmo, create a fruit fly with the I crossed over with a losercase r and an uppercase.
correct genotype. Explain how you did it.

B. Is there another way to get the correct

Yes, Since some genes are recessive, dominant

phenotype, but not the correct genotype?

Explain. ones will show up on top.

4. Challenge: Use the dropdown menu to switch to the next target offspring. While creating target offspring

2-5, fill out the table below.

Number of Number of

Target Genotype of Genotype of

crossovers crossovers

offspring chromatid 1 chromatid 2

Parent 1 Parent 2

2 CBlr CBlr 1 1

3 CbIR cbIR 2

4 cBLr cbLr 4

5 cbLR cbLr 1 2

To produce target offspring 5, why were two crossovers needed on one chromatid arm?

Two crossover were needed because the chromosomes switched out the inside parts.

5. Think and discuss: Suppose there are two homologous chromosomes. Each chromosome contains a
single mutant allele in different parts of the chromosome. How can crossovers be beneficial in this
situation? (Hint: How can you create a single, mutation-free chromosome?)

If the crossover results in the pair of the chromosome, in which one contains no mutant
allele while others contain two mutant alleles.

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