Summary:
- Sexual reproduction occurs in a cycle.
- This series of life stages and events that a sexually reproducing organism goes through is called its life cycle.
- Organisms with a haploid life cycle spend the majority of their lives as haploid gametes.
- Organisms with a diploid life cycle spend the majority of their lives as diploid adults.
- Plants, algae, and some protists have a life cycle that alternates between diploid and haploid phases, known as alternation of generations.