1. Adapted from: Puberty: Understanding Your Changing Body. SexualityandU
Adapted from: Puberty: Understanding Your Changing Body. SexualityandU.ca, 2010

2. The Changing Me. . . What’s Happening?

3. Class Guidelines: Giggling is OK Respect what others say
Understand other’s feelings
Discuss puberty topics responsibly outside the classroom
There are no dumb questions

4. What is Puberty? Time of change from child to adult
When the body reaches maturity
Emotional changes occur
Bodies of boys and girls develop and become fertile

5. What Does Fertile Mean? Boys start to make sperm cells
Girls start to make
egg cells

6. These are the cells necessary to make a new human:
Sperm + Egg = Baby

7. Sperm
After puberty you make 200, ,000 sperm cells a day for the rest of your life
Sperm build up in tubes around the testicles
They travel along some tubes and mix with fluids from glands

8. 3 Major Growth Spurts 1. Conception to Birth 3. Puberty
2. Birth to one year old

9. When do I Start Puberty? Boys (Ages 10-15) Girls (Ages 8-14)
Everyone is different
Everyone will start and finish at a different time
This is normal 9

10. What Makes Puberty Start?
The pituitary gland sends a signal to the body in boys and girls to produce the hormone that starts puberty.
Male hormone – Testosterone
Female hormone – Estrogen

11. Do Boys and Girls Produce the Same Hormone?
In Girls:
The pituitary gland sends a signal to the ovaries to produce Estrogen.
In Boys:
The pituitary gland sends a signal to the testicles to produce Testosterone. 11

12. How Does my Body Change During Puberty?

13. What Changes Happen to Boys?
Hair growth (pubic area, under the armpits, and on the face)
May get more hair on arms, legs, chest and back
Voice gets deeper
Penis and testicles grow
Sperm is produced
May have mood swings, sexual thoughts and feelings

14. What changes happen to boys?
Grow taller
Bones grow
Muscles grow
Weight gain is normal
Hair and skin become oily and you may get pimples
Body sweats more

15. What changes happen to girls?
Grow taller
Bones grow
Hips get wider and more curvy
Weight gain is normal
Hair and skin become oily
and you may get pimples
Voice gets a little deeper

16. What changes happen to girls?
Hair grows under armpits and in pubic area
Hair on arms and legs may grow darker
Breast and nipples get larger
Body sweats more
Menstruation (period) begins
May have mood swings, sexual thoughts and feelings

17. Male Reproductive System
Urethra
Penis
Scrotum – The sac of skin which holds the pair of testes.
Penis – It is a spongy, muscular organ that becomes enlarged and erect when sexually aroused. It varies in size. Testicles grow first so your penis may look as if it is shrinking. It isn’t. It can take a while for your penis to grow. Penises, like noses and ear and hands, come in all sizes and shapes and colours. They vary how they curve and stick out when erect. Penises, when erect, are more alike in size than when they are soft. They al work.
Urethra – The tube through which urine and semen leave the body.
Testicles (testes) – The male sex glands which produce sperm and testosterone (a male hormone).
Epididymis – A tube on the surface of each testicle which stores and transports sperm to the vas deferens.
Vas deferens – A sperm duct which leads from each testicle to the ejaculatory duct.
Seminal vesicles – Pair of glands which add a nourishing fluid to the sperm.
Prostate gland – Produces a milky fluid which forms part of the semen.
Bladder – A bag-shaped organ which holds the urine until it is discharged.
Testes or Testicles
Scrotum

18. Male Reproductive System
Bladder
Seminal Vesicle
Prostate Gland
Urethra
Scrotum – The sac of skin which holds the pair of testes.
Penis – It is a spongy, muscular organ that becomes enlarged and erect when sexually aroused. It varies in size. Testicles grow first so your penis may look as if it is shrinking. It isn’t. It can take a while for your penis to grow. Penises, like noses and ear and hands, come in all sizes and shapes and colours. They vary how they curve and stick out when erect. Penises, when erect, are more alike in size than when they are soft. They al work.
Urethra – The tube through which urine and semen leave the body.
Testicles (testes) – The male sex glands which produce sperm and testosterone (a male hormone).
Epididymis – A tube on the surface of each testicle which stores and transports sperm to the vas deferens.
Vas deferens – A sperm duct which leads from each testicle to the ejaculatory duct.
Seminal vesicles – Pair of glands which add a nourishing fluid to the sperm.
Prostate gland – Produces a milky fluid which forms part of the semen.
Bladder – A bag-shaped organ which holds the urine until it is discharged.
Penis
Epididymis
Testicle or Testes
Scrotum

19. What Is an Erection?
If semen is going to come out, the penis is likely to be erect.
A penis gets erect when blood rushes to it.
Muscles push the semen into the urethra and out the penis
This is called ejaculation

20. What Causes an Erection?
Boys get erections for all kinds of reasons.
When a boy has to go to the bathroom
When nervous or anxious
By touching their penis
Sometimes for no reason during puberty
However it happens is okay.

21. When Does Ejaculation Happen?
If a boy wakes up and finds a wet, sticky spot on his sheets or pajamas - semen came out when he was sleeping. This is called a “wet dream”.
If a boy touches or rubs his penis and it get erect and semen comes out. This is called masturbation.
Some boys have wet dreams - some don’t.
Some boys masturbate, some don’t.

22. Female Reproductive System
Fallopian Tube
Ovaries
Uterus
Ovary – It releases egg cells and produces hormones (estrogen and progesterone).
Fallopian Tubes – Tubes leading from the ovary to the top of the uterus, with finger-like projections that surround an ovary.
Uterus – Pear-shaped organ which nourishes and holds a developing fetus. It prepares for a pregnancy each month by forming a blood and tissue lining.
Uterine Lining – The lining of the uterus which thickens and sheds during the menstrual cycle.
Cervix – The narrow inner end of the vagina, which leads to the uterus.
Vagina – A muscular tube which expands to fit the penis during intercourse or a baby during birth.
Vaginal Opening – The opening to the vagina.
Clitoris – a highly sensitive organ above the urinary opening which may provide pleasure in orgasm to females when stimulated.
Pubis – A fleshy pad of tissue which is covered with pubic hair.
Labia – Fold of skin (inner and outer) which protect the (inner, outer) internal reproduction organs.
Cervix
Vagina

23. Female Reproductive System
Fallopian Tube
Ovary
Uterus
Bladder
Ovary – It releases egg cells and produces hormones (estrogen and progesterone).
Fallopian Tubes – Tubes leading from the ovary to the top of the uterus, with finger-like projections that surround an ovary.
Uterus – Pear-shaped organ which nourishes and holds a developing fetus. It prepares for a pregnancy each month by forming a blood and tissue lining.
Uterine Lining – The lining of the uterus which thickens and sheds during the menstrual cycle.
Cervix – The narrow inner end of the vagina, which leads to the uterus.
Vagina – A muscular tube which expands to fit the penis during intercourse or a baby during birth.
Vaginal Opening – The opening to the vagina.
Clitoris – a highly sensitive organ above the urinary opening which may provide pleasure in orgasm to females when stimulated.
Pubis – A fleshy pad of tissue which is covered with pubic hair.
Labia – Fold of skin (inner and outer) which protect the (inner, outer) internal reproduction organs.
Cervix
Clitoris
Rectum
Urethra
Vaginal Opening

24. So What Are Periods and Why Do They Happen?
Girls are born with hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs, called ova – one is called an ovum
These egg cells are only half formed
At puberty, hormones tell the ovaries it is time to start releasing ova
Usually one egg at a time develops and is released from an ovary

25. So What Are Periods and Why Do They Happen?
At the same time, the uterus starts to grow a thick lining on the inside wall
The lining has lots of tiny blood vessels
The lining is there to protect and feed an egg that has combined with a sperm to form a fertilized egg

26. So What Are Periods and Why Do They Happen?
If an egg does not meet a sperm, the lining is not needed.
It breaks up
Mixed with some blood it comes out the uterus into the vagina and then out the vaginal opening
This is called menstruation but lots of females just call it their period.
If a woman is not pregnant then her ovary will release another egg, the lining build up and, if the egg is not fertilized, she has another period
This is called the menstrual cycle

27. When will I get my period?
No one can tell exactly when it will start
Many girls get some white or yellow stuff on their underwear
It is mucus and tells the girl that her period is coming sometime within the next year
How long will the bleeding last?
Each female is different. It can vary from 3 – 8 days
During a period we only lose a few tablespoons to about half a cup of blood in that time – not a lot

28. How often will I get a period?
At first there may not be any pattern to when you will get your next period
Some women never have a regular pattern
Most women eventually have a regular cycle – they know approximately when their next period will happen
The length of a cycle is from the first day of bleeding one month to the first day of bleeding the next time it happens
Each person is different so some women may have a period every 23 days, some every 28 days and some every 35 days
Lots of girls keep a calendar to help them keep track of when they have their period and how long it lasts.

29. What Do I do When I Get My Period?
Females use pads or tampons to catch the blood that comes from the vagina
Sanitary pads are made of material that absorbs the blood
Most have a sticky strip on one side to hold the pad to the underwear
Pads come in a variety of sizes and shapes

30. What Do I do When I Get My Period?
A tampon is a small plug of material that fits inside the female’s vagina to absorb the blood
Some girls like to use tampons, especially if they are doing physical activities
Some girls only use pads
It is up to you

31. What About Feelings?
Both girls and boys can experience many different feelings or emotions as they grow up. What are some of the feelings?

32. What About Feelings? Both girls and boys can experience lots of
feelings as they grow up
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.

33. Where Can I Get More Information?
Parents or other family members
Other trusted adults (teachers)
Health Professionals
Parents can be a really good source of information when it comes to sex and sexual health. They can answer questions and give great advice. But sometimes it can be intimidating to approach parents with hard questions. Puberty class is a great introduction - talk to your parents about what you learned. Movies might also open a door for conversation. Or use a hypothetical example.

34. Questions ?