1. Aim: How can we improve our understanding of our reproductive system?
Do now: Write a few sentences to describe which dimension of sexual health is most important or relevant to you in your life right now, and explain why.

2. Getting Ready
One important part of the physical dimension of sexual health is a person’s reproductive system. What does it mean to reproduce?
Human reproduction is the physical process of producing children. You probably already know things about the female and male reproductive organs and how they work. You’ll have a chance to test your knowledge today later in class.

3. Male Reproductive Organs
The male reproductive system includes the penis, testicles, scrotum, epididymis, vas deferens, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, urethra, and Cowper’s glands. We will go over these parts individually.
Penis: Made up of spongy tissue. Usually soft and limp, it fills with blood when excited, becoming larger and firmer. (Erection)
Testicles: Size and shape of small plums. They make the hormone testosterone and produce sperm, the microscopic male reproductive cells. Each day, a healthy male produces several hundred million sperm.

4. Male Reproductive Organs
Scrotum: Loose sac of skin that hangs behind the penis. It holds the testicles. If the testicles get cold/warm, the scrotum hugs/hangs to warm/cool them to the best temperature to make sperm.
Epididymis: Tightly coiled tube that curves over the top of each testicle. After sperm is made, they move into the epididymis for up to 6 weeks where they mature and develop the ability to swim.
Vas Deferens: Tube that leads out of the epididymis. There are two of them, and mature sperm move from the epididymis to the vas deferens where they are stored until they leave the body.

5. Male Reproductive Organs
Prostate Gland: Size and shape of a walnut. The prostate makes a thin, milky fluid that helps the sperm move.
Seminal Vesicles: Pouches that connect to each vas deferens before it reaches the prostate gland. Here, sticky yellow liquids called seminal fluid are made to give sperm energy and help them move. Together, the seminal vesicles and prostate gland make semen - the milky white liquid containing sperm that leaves the penis when a man ejaculates. Ejaculation is when the muscles of the reproductive organs contract and push the semen out of the man’s body.

6. Male Reproductive Organs
Urethra: A tube that starts at the bladder and runs through the penis to its end. It carries both urine and semen out of the body, but never at the same time. When a man is sexually excited, a valve closes off the bladder, so urine can’t pass through.
Cowper’s Glands: 2 small glands along the urethra. They make clear fluid that passes through the urethra before a man ejaculates to flush out any traces of urine.
This fluid is called pre-ejaculate.
Sometimes this fluid can contain sperm that have been left in the urethra from earlier ejaculations.

7. Male Reproductive Organs
This is a chart of where the male reproductive organs are located. You will be asked later to correctly label these organs to their respective descriptions.
Before we move on, are there any questions?

8. Female Reproductive Organs
The female reproductive organs are more complex than the males. The reason why is because the female body has to compensate for bearing children. Therefore, the reproductive organs are divided into two categories: external reproductive organs, and internal reproductive organs. We will go over both external and internal organs, and their functions.

9. External Reproductive Organs
The female external reproductive organs consists of the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, urinary opening, and vaginal opening. Together with the mons pubis, they are called the vulva.
Mons pubis: Area where fat under the skin covers the pubic bone. Hair grows in this area during puberty. Provides warmth.
Labia majora (outer lips) and labia minora (inner lips): Folds of skin that surround and protect the clitoris, vaginal opening, and urinary opening. Its main function is protection.

10. External Reproductive Organs
Clitoris: Size of a pea; It is full of sensitive nerve endings, and its purpose is to provide sexual pleasure.
Urinary opening: Below or behind the clitoris; this is where urine leaves the body.
Vaginal opening: Below or behind the urinary opening; this is where menstrual fluid leaves the body, where a man’s penis enters the woman’s body during vaginal sexual intercourse, and where a baby comes out during childbirth.

11. Internal Reproductive Organs
The female internal reproductive organs consists of the vagina, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and cervix.
Vagina: A muscular tunnel about 4 inches long that goes from the vaginal opening to the opening of the uterus. It provides a way for menstrual fluid to leave the body, and receives a man’s penis during sexual intercourse.
It is also a passage through which a baby is born, so it’s sometimes called the birth canal.

12. Internal Reproductive Organs
Uterus: A pear-shaped organ that is about the size of a fist. It is one of the strongest muscles in the body because it has to be able to push a baby out during childbirth. This is where a fertilized egg grows and develops into a baby when a women is pregnant.
After a girl reaches puberty, the uterus builds up a thick lining of blood and tissue approximately once a month to support the growth of a fertilized egg. When the egg isn’t fertilized, this lining isn’t needed, so it flows out of the body through the vagina. (*)

13. Internal Reproductive Organs
Ovaries: Almond-shaped organs that make female hormones (estrogen and progesterone) and holds the female’s eggs.
When a girl is born, her ovaries contain more than 300,000 unripe egg cells.
After puberty, about once a month, an eg ripens in one of the ovaries and is released into the fallopian tube.
Fallopian tube: Come out of each side of the uterus; Where the egg travels through from an ovary to get to the uterus. Ov→FTube→Uterus
Fertilization (sperm enters egg) happens in the fallopian tube.
Cervix: End of uterus that opens into the vagina. Stays tightly closed during pregnancy to help protect the developing fetus.

14. Classwork (Diagrams + Descriptions)
You will receive a worksheet that contains the diagrams of the Male Reproductive Organs, and Female Reproductive Organs (external and internal).
Study where these organs are located (hint hint), and match these organs to their respective descriptions.

15. Menstrual Cycle
One of the signs that a girl has reached puberty is that she begins to menstruate, or have periods. The menstrual cycle is called a cycle because it happens over and over. It is one way a girl’s body becomes physically ready to reproduce.
How does the menstrual cycle work?

16. Menstrual Cycle 1. Egg begins to ripen in one of her ovaries.
2. Uterus begins to build up a lining of blood and tissue that could support a fertilized egg. *time it takes vary from woman to woman
3. When egg is mature or ripe, it is released from ovary to fallopian tube. (ovulation, it happens days before a woman’s next period)
4. Egg travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus. (~3-4 days)
5. When in the fallopian tube, it can be fertilized by sperm.
6. If egg is fertilized, it attaches to the lining of the uterus and begins to grow. (pregnancy begins)
7. If not, the uterus will begin to shed its lining in another 10 days or so, and blood and tissue will leave the uterus and flow out of the vagina. (period)

17. Pregnancy How does a woman get pregnant?
Once people reach puberty, anywhere from 8-14, they’re physically able to reproduce. Girls can get pregnant, and boys can fertilize an egg. However, young people are usually not prepared to raise or support a child until many years after puberty.
Unintended pregnancies can create physical, social, emotional, and financial hardships for teens and their families. When you know how pregnancy happens, you’re better able to protect your reproductive health.

18. How Pregnancy Occurs
Remember that a man’s ejaculate contains millions of sperm in his semen that leaves the penis. The sperm travels through the woman’s reproductive system. They swim up through the vagina, through the uterus, and some reach the fallopian tubes.
Sperm can live inside a woman’s reproductive system for up to 5 days. If a woman ovulates or has ovulated recently, and there is a ripe egg in one of the tubes, a sperm may enter the egg.
Once the egg is fertilized, changes happen quickly. The egg begins to divide and form new cells even on its way to the uterus. When the fertilized egg reaches the uterus and attaches itself to the lining, the woman becomes pregnant. (explain embryo vs fetus)

19. How Menstrual Cycle relates to Pregnancy
How is the menstrual cycle related to becoming pregnant?
When a woman ovulates, a ripe egg is released from an ovary into the fallopian tube. The phase of the menstrual cycle when a ripe egg is traveling toward the uterus in the fallopian tube is when fertilization can occur. If a woman has sex with a man and one of his sperm enters the ripe egg, the egg is fertilized, and ready to implant in the lining of the uterus. Pregnancy occurs, the egg begins to grow and develop, and the woman’s menstrual periods stop during pregnancy.

20. Homework
For homework, complete the Understanding Human Reproduction worksheet, and bring it next class.
If you have any questions, see me after class, or me at