Fission (biology)

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/fission-biology

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the habitat?Ubiquitous; found in virtually all environments including aquatic, terrestrial, and symbiotic niches
2. What is the reproductive strategy?Asexual reproduction, primarily binary fission and multiple fission
3. What is fission in living things?Fission is when a single cell splits into two new cells that are almost identical. It’s a simple way that many tiny organisms grow and make more of themselves.
4. How does a bacteria cell do binary fission?First the bacteria copy its circular DNA, then the cell grows longer. The membrane pushes in and a new cell wall forms, cutting the cell into two.

Cytokinesis: The final stage of cell division, where the cytoplasm divides to form two daughter cells.
Schizogony: A type of multiple fission where the nucleus divides multiple times before the cell divides.
Horizontal Gene Transfer: The movement of genetic material between organisms other than by reproduction.