! ! ! There are two types of reproduction. Sexual and Asexual.

To really understand what those words mean lets break them apart. ! ! Asexual reproduction! ! Asexual is easy to break apart. The prex A comes from the Greek language and means "without". "Sex" means "to cross." Thus the term asexual means "without to cross" which really doesn't make sense but it is also dened as without crossing. Asexual organisms make exact copies of themselves, almost like a photocopy. This photocopy is almost identical but mistakes can happen that allow di"erent traits to occur in the copy. One of the big di"erences is the copy is usually a little smaller especially in larger organisms that reproduce this way. Some examples of organisms that reproduce asexually are:! ! ! ! Amoeba! Bacteria! ! ! Hydra! Paramecium! ! Lindens, like many trees can reproduce asexually through a process called propagation. Propagation means that humans cut a part of the tree o" and plant it so that it grows roots and begins a new tree. Certain trees like navel oranges which have no seeds can only reproduce this way.! ! Sexual reproduction! ! We already know that asexual means without crossing or only one parent. Sexual means to cross. Sexual reproduction means that two parents combine parts of their genetic material. With sexual reproduction there is usually a male and a female. The male contributes a copy of half of his

genetic material that is combined with half of the genetic material contributed by the female. The baby that is born is called the o"spring. In a very basic way, o"spring get half of their traits from each parent. Because of the way the males and females copy their own genetic material and the way they are combined, each o"spring is di"erent. It is a little like rolling dice for each o"spring. Some animals that reproduce sexually are:! ! ! ! bee! beetle! ! ! chipmunk! ferret! ! ! lizard! mallards! ! ! petunia! seal! ! ! toad! turkey! ! ! ! Both ! ! Many plants and animals are adapted to reproduce both ways. There are advantages to each method. Jellysh are an example of an animal that can reproduce both ways. They reproduce sexually but they also reproduce asexually. The asexual way allows them to make many copies of themselves that have an easier time nding a mate than one copy

would. The sexually reproducing copies can then nd a mate and produce o"spring with di"erent traits. These di"erent traits may give the o"spring an advantage that the parents didnt have. Other organisms which may reproduce using both asexual and sexual reproduction include:! ! ! ! ! ! ! Da"odil! Cactus! ! ! Mushroom! Sponge! ! Starsh! ! Analysis:! ! Use a diagram like the circles below to compare and contrast sexual and asexual reproduction. List characteristics about sexual reproduction in the right circle and characteristics of asexual reproduction in the left circle. Where the two circles overlap put characteristics that the two types of reproduction have in common.! !