Meiosis Introductory Activity

I give this activity before any discussion of meiosis.  The students are able to understand basic concepts of meiosis without being told anything about how meiosis works.

In this activity cards representing different stages of meiosis (and the preceding interphase) are arranged in order.  The original cell has an X chromosome (long) and and a Y chromosome (short) which makes it easier to determine what is happening at each stage.

Preparation.   The Meiosis cards powerpoint (Below) has cards that can be printed out on card stock.  Each group of 3-4 students should get one set and one set of instructions ( The Meiosis activity document below).

Prior to the exercise, I go over what happens to the X and Y chromosomes in mitosis using the same type of diagrams.  This is shown below

Then I tell the students that while most cells in a male will have the X and the Y,  the final sperms cells can only have an X or a Y. They need to arrange the cards starting with a cell with an X and Y and ending with 2 cells with an X and 2 with a Y.   Most of the students can do this within 5-10 minutes.