Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Dance of the Chromosomes

Good to be back!
Big day for most of us yesterday, and so it's taking me a little bit to get the homework up, but if you want to get started, read in your textbook from Ch.3, section 3 - Meiosis (my-O-sis), just pages 68-72 (not the whole chapter.)


Also, hopefully you have not lost your CD, or should I say, See-D! This is to observe over the next week or two.  Remember to water carefully.  Please take notes/pictures/diagrams of the progress your seed is making. 

We have already learned, so very thoroughly, about mitosis, which is when the cell divides, forming an exact copy of itself with an identical set of DNA. Mitosis happens to make new cells to replace old ones, and for growth,  so those new cells  need to be just like the old ones. The question may have  arisen, how then do we get cells to start a new person, who is not exactly like the parent, who is an original creation?  These cells must be different--they need to be halved, with only one of each type of chromosome from each parent, so that when they combine the offspring will have the right number, and the right kind, of chromosomes.  This is MEIOSIS. And so the next lesson is about the chromosomal dance which creates these amazing cells which create  a one-of-a-kind person who is loved by God.

The two vocabulary words you need to know are... HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES
MEIOSIS

The Big Idea you need to grasp is the purpose of meiosis, which is variety and uniqueness.


And here are three videos:

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