What is the difference between mitosis and meiosis?

Cells divide in two ways, like how you can share your toys with a friend or make a copy of yourself. Mitosis is when one cell splits into two identical cells, like twins sharing everything. Meiosis is like making a special kind of toy box, where the new boxes have different kinds of toys than the original. This helps create variety in life.

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Examples

  1. Mitosis is like splitting a sandwich into two equal halves for you and your friend.
  2. Meiosis is like mixing ingredients so each cake ends up slightly different.
  3. When your skin cells divide to heal a cut, that's mitosis, but when your egg or sperm cells form, that's meiosis.

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