Final answer:
Mendel's laws of inheritance are illustrated during meiosis I: the law of segregation is seen during anaphase I where homologous chromosomes separate, while the law of independent assortment is represented by the random orientation of chromosome pairs during metaphase I, leading to genetic diversity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question refers to Mendel's laws of inheritance and specifically to moments during meiosis I that illustrate these laws. Mendel's law of segregation is exemplified by the fact that pairs of homologous chromosomes separate during anaphase I, ensuring that gametes receive only one chromosome from each pair. This law states that the two alleles for a gene segregate, or separate, during the formation of gametes. Mendel's law of independent assortment is demonstrated during metaphase I, where pairs of homologous chromosomes align in random orientations along the metaphase plane. This randomness allows for the formation of gametes that contain any combination of paternal and maternal chromosomes, leading to genetic diversity.
Independent assortment contributes to the genetic variation upon which natural selection acts, while segregation ensures that offspring inherit one allele for each gene from each parent, which is the basis for predicting offspring genotypes using the Punnett square.