Sexual and Asexual Reproduction

Question 1

Characteristics that can be passed from one generation to the next through genes are…

Answer 1

hereditary

Question 2

What is reproduction?

Answer 2

the production of new organisms (offspring) through sexual or asexual mean

Question 3

What are the two main categories of reproduction?

Answer 3

sexual and asexual

Question 4

What does sexual reproduction require?

Answer 4

two individuals/parents, whose genetic information is combined

Question 5

What does asexual reproduction require?

Answer 5

one individual parent

Question 6

What kind of offspring are produced through sexual reproduction?

Answer 6

genetically unique offspring

Question 7

What kind of offspring are produced through asexual reproduction?

Answer 7

genetically identical, clones

Question 8

What is required for the offspring produced by asexual reproduction to be identical to their parents

Answer 8

the same environment

Question 9

What is a zygote?

Answer 9

a fertilised egg cell

Question 10

Zygotes are produced from…?

Answer 10

the sex cells of both parents

Question 11

What are the sex cells of mammals?

Answer 11

sperm for males, ovum for females

Question 12

What is the main advantage of sexual reproduction and why is this an advantage?

Answer 12

increase genetic diversity, meaning the population becomes more likely to adapt in response to change

Question 13

What are the main disadvantages of sexual reproduction?

Answer 13

takes more time, energy and resources than asexual reproduction

Question 14

What are the main advantages of asexual reproduction?

Answer 14

faster and more efficient

Question 15

What is the main disadvantage of asexual reproduction?

Answer 15

reduces genetic diversity

Question 16

What’s a real-life example of asexual reproduction reducing genetic diversity?

Answer 16

the Irish Potato Famine, where potato plants had a very low genetic diversity because they basically all originated from cuttings of the same plant. So when a fungal disease hit them, they were all so genetically identical, that they all got identically sick, and were killed

Question 17

What is a real life example of sexual reproduction increasing genetic diversity?

Answer 17

the Galapagos Finches

Question 18

What are the two main categories of sexual reproduction in animals?

Answer 18

external and internal

Question 19

What is external fertilisation?

Answer 19

both the male and female release their sex cell into their environment , so the egg is fertilised outside the body

Question 20

What is internal fertilisation?

Answer 20

where the egg is fertilised inside the body

Question 21

What kind of animals usually reproduce internally?

Answer 21

dry, land-based animals like mammals, reptiles and birds

Question 22

What kind of animals usually reproduce externally?

Answer 22

fish and amphibians

Question 23

What are two advantages of external fertilisation?

Answer 23

1) because fertilisation happens outside the female body, there isn’t a limitation of space. So many more offspring can be made because more sex cells can be released and grown
2) the parents don’t actually have to meet. So saves lots of time and energy

Question 24

What are two disadvantages of external fertilisation?

Answer 24

1) with the parents not around, any fertilised offspring have a way smaller chance of actually surviving. With no parent to protect or feed them, they are basically at the mercy of predators and violent weathers
2) the sex cells might not even have a chance to be fertilised and become offspring before they are destroyed. Actually this happens the majority of the time. So waste of resources

Question 25

What are two advantages of internal fertilisation?

Answer 25

1) offspring have a much higher chance of survival because they are protected by the female’s body.
2) making less sex cells saves time, energy and resources, which is easier on the parent

Question 26

What are two disadvantages of internal fertilisation?

Answer 26

1) only a few offspring can be produced at a time. As the whole point of reproduction is to carry on genes and survive, this is risky
2) parents have to physically meet and mate. So extra time, energy and effort

Question 27

What’s an example of animals that produce sexually and asexually?

Answer 27

komodo dragons

Question 28

What is the method of reproduction called where animals produce young asexually?

Answer 28

parthenogenesis

Question 29

How do plants reproduce (asexually or sexually)?

Answer 29

both

Question 30

How do plants reproduce asexually?

Answer 30

• runners
• bulbs
• cuttings + graftings

Question 31

Runners, bulbs, buddings, cuttings and grafting are what methods of reproduction?

Answer 31

asexual plant reproductions

Question 32

What are runners?

Answer 32

roots that grow out of the side of another grown plant and above + along the ground, settling down nearby to develop into a mini plant or plantlet

Question 33

What kind of plant reproduces with runners?

Answer 33

strawberry

Question 34

What are bulbs?

Answer 34

where baby plants or buds grow up and out of “bulbs” underground that are connected to a mother plant’s roots

Question 35

What are cuttings?

Answer 35

a person cuts a branch from the parent plant, and grows it in doil or water till it develops roots, stems and leaves and grows fully into an adult plant

Question 36

What is grafting?

Answer 36

A cutting from the stem of the plant is bound to the cut stem of another plant with developed roots. The stems fuse, and the grafting grows as if it is part of the original plant

Question 37

What is another word for cuttings?

Answer 37

vegetative propagation

Question 38

What makes cutting and grafting different to runners and bulbs?

Answer 38

they are unnatural. Humans have to do it

Question 39

What is budding?

Answer 39

a section of the parent plant breaks off, forming an independent individual

Question 40

What kind of plants reproduce with bulbs?

Answer 40

tulips and daffodils