From Seed to Seed:
Plant Science for K-8 Educators

A note on teaching about mitosis and meiosis...

We have included quite a bit of detail on mitosis and meiosis for your information. Your students, depending on their age, should be introduced to different amounts of this information. Certainly, the names and specifics of the individual phases are not to be memorized. What you should hope to accomplish is a big-picture understanding of the subject. According to the National Science Education Standards, K-4 students should be introduced to the concept that, within the plant, cycles take place to produce new cells. Students in grades 5-8 should develop an understanding of where genetic material is concentrated in the cell and how it is passed on from one cell to another.