1) Cells produce through both mitosis and meiosis. Through these processes the cells are duplicated to produce either identical copies (mitosis) or copies with some variation (meiosis). Depending on the type of organism, either process could occur, as mitosis occurs in organisms that reproduce asexually and meiosis in organisms that reproduce sexually.

2) Gametes, or parent cells, are produced during meiosis. Gamete cells are used to produce a zygote, and both donated half of their traits to the zygote during fertilization. Meiosis produces gametes because variation is necessary for the donation of traits to the zygote. In meiosis the the original maternal cell goes through meiosis I and produces two daughter cells. These cells go through meiosis II and produce a total of four daughter cells, or two sets of gametes.

3) Mitosis and meiosis have their similarities as well as their differences. Their big similarity is the fact that they are both reproductive processes. Also, both processes result in the production of daughter cells through cytokinesis. However, in mitosis only two daughter cells are produced while in meiosis four are produced. The big difference between the two processes is their purposes. The purpose of mitosis, which takes place in somatic cells, is to produce two diploid cells while meiosis, which takes place in the testes and ovaries, is to produce gametes, haploid cells, for sexual reproduction. While both processes include five stages of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis, meiosis has these five stages twice which is how four daughter cells are produced as opposed to two. Also, mitosis produces no variation in its daughter cells, as they are identical to the original parents. Meiosis produces much variation since chromosomes are crossed over in prophase I.