Subscribe

9th grade · Science · Unit 2 of 7

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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 9L.4.1.1.2 · how heritable variations come from meiosis, errors in copying and mutations

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 2 of 7 in 9th grade Science, after Cells from Cells and before Atoms & Electrons.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    What is a gamete?

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

  2. Question 2

    What is asexual reproduction?

    • Making offspring from two parents
    • Making offspring without cells
    • Making offspring from one parent
    • Making offspring from eggs only

  3. Question 3

    What is fertilization?

    • When a plant makes sugar
    • When a seed is planted
    • When a cell divides in two
    • When a sperm cell and an egg cell join

  4. Question 4

    Budding in yeast and hydra is a type of…

    • sexual reproduction
    • photosynthesis
    • asexual reproduction
    • fertilization

  5. Question 5

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

    • stamens
    • pistils
    • sepals
    • petals

  6. Question 6

    Why does sexual reproduction increase variety within a species?

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

More 9th grade