levo

The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development

Meiosis, haploid gametes and genetic variation

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 01, 02 and 03

Overview

Recall questions on meiosis, haploid cells and homologous pairs, where meiosis happens in humans and flowering plants, fertilisation, crossing over and chiasmata, independent assortment at metaphase 1 and 2, the 2²³ chromosome combinations, and random fertilisation as a source of variation.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is a homologous pair of chromosomes?

Key term

Explain why meiosis is essential if the chromosome number is to stay the same from one generation to the next.

Key term

What is meant by a haploid cell?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define meiosis.

    Model answer

    Meiosis is a form of nuclear division in which one diploid cell gives rise to four haploid nuclei, each with half the chromosome number of the parent cell.

  2. 2

    What is meant by a haploid cell?

    Model answer

    A haploid cell contains a single set of chromosomes, one of each homologous pair, and is written as n.

  3. 3

    What is a homologous pair of chromosomes?

    Model answer

    A homologous pair is two chromosomes of the same size carrying the same genes at the same loci, one inherited from each parent, though the alleles they carry may differ.

  4. 4

    State the number of chromosomes in a human gamete and in a human zygote.

    Model answer

    A human gamete has 23 chromosomes and a human zygote has 46.

  5. 5

    Explain why meiosis is essential if the chromosome number is to stay the same from one generation to the next.

    Model answer

    Fertilisation combines two nuclei and so doubles the chromosome number, and meiosis halves it beforehand, so the zygote receives the normal diploid number rather than twice it.

  6. 6

    In which organs does meiosis take place in humans?

    Model answer

    It takes place in the seminiferous tubules of the testes in males and in the ovaries in females.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation
The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development
The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification
Cells and Microscopy

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

measles and .
tuberculosismalariacholera

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ABrain tissue is metabolically expensive.
BA high-quality diet is needed to sustain it.
CThe large head makes birth difficult.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Core body temperature is normally about 37 °C.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.