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9th grade · Science · Unit 9 of 14

Reproduction

Asexual and sexual reproduction

What your child practices

How organisms reproduce with one parent or two, why sexual reproduction creates variety, the parts of a flower, and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: BIO.12 · meiosis and the formation of reproductive cells

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Asexual reproduction makes offspring from one parent; they are identical to it.
  2. Sexual reproduction joins an egg and a sperm from two parents, so offspring get a new mix of genes.
  3. In a flower, the stamen makes pollen and the pistil holds the eggs.

Example: A potato sprouts a new plant from its eye. Asexual or sexual reproduction? Only one parent is involved. No egg or sperm joins. Answer: asexual

Reproduction in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 9 of 14 in 9th grade Science, after Genetic Crosses and before Evidence & Mechanisms of Evolution.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why does sexual reproduction increase variety within a species?

    • Offspring get a new mix of genes from two parents.
    • Mutations never happen.
    • Parents choose which genes to pass on.
    • Offspring are copies of one parent.

  2. Question 2

    In plants, what are the male parts of a flower called (together)?

    • petals
    • stamens
    • sepals
    • pistils

  3. Question 3

    Budding in yeast and hydra is a type of…

    • sexual reproduction
    • asexual reproduction
    • photosynthesis
    • fertilization

  4. Question 4

    What is the role of the ovary in a flower?

    • It makes pollen.
    • It attracts pollinators.
    • It holds the flower up.
    • It holds the ovules, which may become seeds.

  5. Question 5

    What is a gamete?

    • A body cell
    • A sex cell, such as an egg or sperm
    • A plant leaf
    • A kind of bacteria

  6. Question 6

    Which is a way flowering plants reproduce sexually?

    • Pollen from one flower fertilizes another flower's ovule
    • A leaf grows into a new plant
    • A tuber sprouts
    • A branch is cut and planted

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