Thursday, February 21, 2013

Cell Division: Meiosis = Creating Sex Cells

This week we've been learning about the cell division process called meiosis. In meiosis, 1 diploid (complete set of chromosomes, two of each chromosome, one from mom AND dad) cell in the ovaries or testes divides twice to become 4 haploid cells (half set of chromosomes, one of each chromosome, either from mom OR dad).

Below are two animations we watched in class, including the wonderful meiosis square dance!

Meiosis animation

Meiosis Square Dance

Here's a good image of the general process of meiosis. Notice the 2 rounds of cell division to create the sperm or egg cells (called Meiosis 1 and Meiosis 2).

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