Meiosis Model
Preparation: To illustrate or model the process of meiosis you will need beads and thread or
twine (for stringing the beads together) or "pop beads" that snap together. You will need a total
of four strands of six beads‐‐two strands of red and two strands of blue. You will also need
magnets or similar objects to represent centromeres and a flat work surface you can draw on
such as a chalkboard or large piece of dark paper.
The table below lists suggested steps for creating your model, once you have everything set up.
Don’t forget to snap a photo of each phase before moving on to the next phase.
Phase Suggestions
Interphase Use a piece of chalk or other removable marker to draw a line around
the edge of your work surface to represent the border of the cell. In the
center, draw a circle to represent the nuclear envelope. Inside the
nucleus, place one strand of blue beads to represent the paternal
chromosomes, and one strand of red beads to represent the maternal
chromosomes.
Prophase I Take apart and reassemble the strands of beads to represent the
crossing over of genetic material that causes genetic variation. (You
should end up with two pairs of beads that are not identical in terms of
bead color and patterns of color.) Be sure to remove the circle that
represents the nucleus, since the nuclear envelope breaks down during
this phase.
Metaphase I Position the sister chromatids in the middle of the circle on the table.
Draw a dotted line to represent the metaphase plate, and place the two
pairs of homologous chromosomes on the plate. Draw spindle fibers
from the centromeres of the chromatids to the poles of the cell.
Anaphase I During this phase, the homologous chromosomes separate and are
pulled to the opposite sides of the cell by the spindle fibers. Move the
paternal sister chromatids to one pole of the cell and the maternal sister
chromatids to the other.
Telophase I and Erase the spindle fibers, and draw two circles to represent nuclei within
Cytokinesis the border of the cell. Now each half of the cell has one pair of sister
chromatid strands. Draw a cleavage furrow around the two nuclei
containing the two sister chromatids. Then draw the pinching off action.
You should now have two daughter cells each containing a pair of sister
chromatids. Note that the chromatids are no longer identical pairs.
Prophase II Erase the original cell border. In the new cells, draw spindle fibers that
connect the centromeres of the sister chromatids.
Meiosis Model
Metaphase II Draw metaphase lines within each of the two cells. In each cell, position
the paternal and maternal sister chromatids on the metaphase plate
just as you did during meiosis I.
Anaphase II During this phase, the proteins connecting the sister chromatids break,
allowing the strands to separate. Separate the strands by detaching the
magnets that represent the centromeres. After you separate the
strands, move the strands toward opposite poles of the cell. You should
now have two daughter cells, each containing two separate strands of
chromosomes.
Telophase II and Draw metaphase lines in each daughter cell. Then draw two nuclei in
Cytokinesis each cell and erase the spindle fibers. Draw the cleavage furrow and the
pinching off action, creating two new cells from each original cell. You
should now have four daughter cells, each with one chromosome
strand. You have successfully modeled meiosis.
