Week 10 · Readings & resources

Week 10 — Readings & Resources

Introduction to Biology Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 10 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 64–72 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–21 min total)

① Two sets, one set, and why gametes need half

Chapter 10, Section “Count the sets: diploid, haploid, and homologous pairs” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Two sets or one: diploid and haploid” · Remember: a body cell carries two full sets of chromosomes, and an egg or sperm carries one complete set.

Where does our genome come from? — Genomics Education Programme — a short health-education article on how each parent's half of your chromosomes reaches you and why siblings from the same parents differ; read the first three sections, and skip the closing section on health, which reaches past this course. Use it while working through the Week-10 module overview. (reading, 3–5 min)
Meiosis: Why Are All Humans Unique?: Crash Course Biology #30 — CrashCourse — a lively episode that opens on the sibling puzzle and follows how eggs and sperm are made; it includes a section on chromosome errors that this course leaves out, so let that part go by and watch for the two shuffles at the end. (video, 13 min) (captions: creator)

② Meiosis I, then meiosis II

Chapter 10, Section “Run meiosis I: the homologs pair and separate” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Meiosis I: the pairs split up” · Remember: the DNA is copied once, meiosis I separates the homologs, and meiosis II separates the sister chromatids.

What is meiosis? — yourgenome — a plain explainer that walks meiosis I and meiosis II phase by phase and ends by setting meiosis beside mitosis; as you read the two anaphase steps, say which one moves homologs and which one moves sister chromatids. This builds on Week 9's work with the cell cycle and mitosis. (reading, 5–8 min)
Phases of Meiosis — Bozeman Science — a steady walk through every phase of both divisions, from prophase I to telophase II; pause after metaphase I and check that the chromosomes are lined up as pairs, not single file. (video, 8 min) (captions: creator)
Meiosis — Nucleus Biology — a narrated animation of the two divisions, which calls meiosis reduction division; watch for the moment the cell count reaches four and each cell holds one set. (video, 7 min) (captions: automatic)

③ Where the variety comes from

Chapter 10, Section “Find the two sources of genetic variation” · Session 2, Segment 5, “Two shuffles: crossing over and independent assortment” · Remember: crossing over mixes within a chromosome, independent assortment mixes between chromosomes, and fertilization multiplies both.

Meiosis — Bozeman Science — a talk-through that starts with haploid and diploid cells and ends on why each person is different, naming independent assortment, crossing over, and random fertilization; the middle compares how sperm and eggs form, which this course does not test. (video, 9 min) (captions: creator)
Meiosis: Where the Sex Starts - Crash Course Biology #13 — CrashCourse — an older, faster episode that spends real time on prophase I and crossing over; it goes deeper into the vocabulary than the chapter, so hold on to what is swapped, between which chromatids, and when. (video, 12 min) (captions: creator)
Sex and genetic shuffling — Understanding Evolution — a short page on why offspring differ from their parents and from each other, and why that shuffling matters for evolution; read it after the chapter's evolutionary lens and connect it to natural selection. Stop here before its example of single genes passed from each parent; next week takes that up. (reading, 2–4 min)

④ Mitosis and meiosis, side by side

Chapter 10, Section “Compare mitosis and meiosis, and see why variation matters” · Session 2, Segment 7, “Mitosis and meiosis, side by side” · Remember: mitosis makes two identical diploid cells, and meiosis makes four unique haploid cells.

Cell Division: Meiosis vs. Mitosis — Nucleus Medical Media — a short narrated animation that runs mitosis first and then meiosis; as you watch, fill in the chapter's six-feature comparison from memory and check each row. (video, 4 min) (captions: automatic)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Meiosis — National Human Genome Research Institute Talking Glossary — the course's free glossary of genetic terms, open at its entry for meiosis; read the short definition of how meiosis halves the chromosome number, and skip the related-term links, which reach beyond this week. (reading, 1–2 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com