Sexual Reproduction (2)

Question 1

How does sexual reproduction take place? (5)

Answer 1

Sexual reproduction is much more complicated than asexual reproduction. •The diploid parent produces gametes (sex cells) in the gonads (sex organs) by meiosis. The gametes are haploid as they contain one set (n) or half the number of chromosomes.
• The male and female gametes are brought together by pollination (plants) or mating (animals).
• The gamete nuclei then fuse, a process known as fertilisation.
• The new cell, the zygote, is diploid (2n) as it has two sets of chromosomes.
• The zygote grows by mitotic cell division into a new individual.

Question 2

What is the female gamete?

Answer 2

The female gamete is quite large and not motile while the male gamete is small, and motile in animals.

Question 3

In animals, the male gamete is known as a ____ and the female, an egg or ___.

Answer 3

sperm

ovum

Question 4

In many plants, the male gamete is just a nucleus in a _____ grain while the female gamete is an egg cell (ovum) in an ____ sac.

Answer 4

pollen

embryo