Wondering how to review the concept of meiosis with your students? This meiosis activity will help them to review what they’ve learned about gamete formation in a fun, creative way.
The Craft Project
To complete this meiosis activity, you need a large blank wall and as many art supplies as possible. If your classroom doesn’t have a large blank wall, consider asking for permission to use a wall of the auditorium or even of the hallway. Divide the class into groups of four or five students each, and tell them that they will be creating a large diagram of meiosis that someone who has never heard of the biological concept could understand.
Provide students with as many of the following art supplies as is practical:
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Tape
- Modeling clay
- Pipe cleaners
- Popsicle sticks
- Paint
- Glitter
- Yarn
- Beads
- Twist ties
- Markers
- Tagboard
Then encourage each group to use these supplies in an original way to show how the process of meiosis works. Make sure that they adequately illustrate each phase of meiosis and write a description under each illustration.
Sharing With the Class
Have each group give a two-minute demonstration to the class, showing how they illustrated each phase of meiosis. If possible, have them use another set of the art supplies that they used in their models to show the phases in real-time. For example, if they twisted together two pipe cleaners to represent a chromosome, have them do it again to show how the chromatids separate and move to opposite sides of the cell.
Taking It a Step Further
Have the groups of students create a video of their demonstration, with one member of the group explaining each phase while the video camera focuses on that part of the model. You may want to encourage them to use the same technique on the video as they did when they shared their models with the class. You can then put these videos on a website for other students to learn from. Some teachers may choose to use this part of the meiosis activity as an extra credit opportunity.
This post is part of the series: Meiosis and Mitosis in the Classroom
Teaching meiosis and mitosis in the classroom can be boring…or a lot of fun! This series includes activities and lesson plans that can help you teach about meiosis and mitosis in a fun and interactive way.
