Hula Hoop Meiosis
Teacher Guide
Materials needed:
 4 students
 4 hula hoops
Purpose of Hula Hoop Meiosis Activity:
 The purpose of this activity is for the students to visualize that Meiosis involves 2
divisions in order for the chromosome number to be reduced from the diploid
number to the haploid number.
Students will act out the process of meiosis in a male body cell of the testes. The hula
hoop represents a cell. The students are the chromosome.
 The first hula hoop is the body cell of the testes.
 The next 2 hula hoops are the 2 cells formed by the end of Meiosis One.
 The last 4 hula hoops are the hapoid gametes (sperms) that are formed by the end
of Meiosis Two.
1. Two students are asked to enter one hula hoop. These 2 students represent one
homologous pair of chromosomes. The teacher will explain that the diploid
number of chromosomes in this beginning cell is 2.
2. The teacher will ask the class, “What happens to these 2 chromosomes during
interphase?” The class should respond, “Replicate.”
3. Now 2 additional students will enter the hula hoop. Now there are 4 students in
the hula hoop. The students should see that the chromosome number has doubled.
4. The teacher will explain that meiosis involves 2 divisions. The teacher will ask
the students to act out the first meiotic division. The students should divide
themselves into 2 cells with 2 students (chromosomes) in each cell. Now we have
2 hula hoops (cells) with 2 chromosomes (students) in each hula hoop (cell).The
students should see that the chromosome number in each cell has not changed
from the original diploid number of 2.
5. The teacher should explain that meiosis produces sex cells or gametes that are
haploid in chromosome number. The cell must divide again in order for the
haploid cells to be produced.
6. Students are instructed to undergo Meiosis 2 division. The 2 students in both hula
hoops divide. Now there is only one student in each of the 4 hula hoops. The
diploid number of 2 has been reduced to the haploid number of 1.
7. End result of meiosis in a male which began with one diploid cell containing 2
chromosomes – 4 haploid sperm cells with one chromosome in each cell.
Students will now act out meiosis in a female. How are egg cells produced in a female?
1. Begin with one hula hoop with 2 students. (one cell with 2 chromosomes)
2. Replicate the chromosomes – Now there are 4 students in one hula hoop.
3. Undergo Meiosis 1. Now there are 2 hula hoops with 2 students in each hula
hoop.
4. One cell will dry up and die in a female. One hula hoop is put away and those 2
students sit down.
5. The remaining cell (hula hoop with 2 students) will undergo Meiosis 2.
6. The result is 2 cells with one chromosome per cell or 2 hula hoops with one
student in each hula hoop.
7. One cell will dry up and die. Another hula hoop is put away and that one student
in that hula hoop is asked to sit down.
8. This leaves only one hula hoop with one student remaining.
9. End result of meiosis in a female that began with one cell with 2 chromosomes –
One haploid egg cell with one chromosome. The diploid number of 2
chromosomes has been reduced to the haploid number of one chromosome.