Female Reproductive System

The female reproductive system is a little more complex than that of the male's. This includes the menstrual cycle.

The female gonads are the ovaries. They produce female gametes which are known as eggs or ova. The ovaries contains thousands of eggs but only about 400- 500 become mature in a woman's life. The ovary stops releasing eggs when the woman reaches about 50. This is known as menopause. The ovaries also produce female hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone. The fallopian tubes/oviducts is where fertilization occurs. The uterus/ womb is where the fertilized embryo further develops into a baby. The cervix is expands during childbirth. The vagina is a passage linking the vulva to the cervix. A man's penis enters the vagina during sexual intercourse and deposit sperms there. The sperms can them swim up to the fallopian tube where fertilization occurs.
The Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle usually lasts about 28 days. The first day of menstruation is also the first day of the menstrual cycle. Before we go into this we need to look at the maturation of the eggs in the ovaries. The ovaries contains thousands of eggs or also known as primary follicles. Each month, only one will become mature. The mature egg is known as Graafian Follicle. They will be released from the ovaries and this is known as ovulation.After ovulation, the graafian follicle develops into Corpus Luteum .On the first five days of the menstrual cycle, the uterus lining breaks down.The wastes and bloods are discharged from the uterus in the body through the vagina. The anterior pituitary glands secretes follicle stimulation hormones (FSH). The FSH stimulates the maturation of the hormones. It also stimulates the follicles to secrete oestrogen. From day 6 to 13, the oestrogen helps the uterine lining to recover and build up again. An excess of oestrogen will stop the secretion of FSH w=and prevents more follicles from maturing. The oestrogen makes the pituitary gland secrete LH. The LH allows the graffian follicle to become corpus luteum. The corpus luteum secretes progesterone which helps to maintain the uterus lining for a number of days. If no fertilization occurs, it gradually breaks down.

Reproduction in Humans -- SELF STUDY IN THE JUNE HOLS

When we reach the age of 12-15 we boys start to notice changes in our body. Our reproductive organs get larger. Today, I will be reflecting on what I had learnt about the male reproductive system.
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We will start with the testes. The male reproductive system contains two ovules of testes. They produces sperms. The epididymis stores inactive sperms before they are released into the sperm duct. The sperm duct loops over the ureter and opens into the urethra. The Prostate glands, Cowper glands and seminal vesicles releases fluids that contains nutrients and mixes them with the sperms before it is released from the urethra in the penis. This fluid actually activates the sperms. The mixture of sperms and the fluid is called semen.

Anatomy of a Sperm



The head of the sperm contains the nucleus, cell membrane and the acrosome. The acrosome is important as it contains enzymes to break through the cell wall of the female egg cell. The mitochondria produces energy for the sperm to swim to swim towards the egg to fertilise it. The tail or also known as flagellum allows the sperm to swim to the egg cell.

Term 2 Class Test + Reflections

I scored 29 out of 37 in this term's class test. It's a A1, but.... its LOW. I found that I did not revise thoroughly enough. My weaker areas are in Light and chemical equations. Although I spent a lot of effort trying to comprehend and understand how to draw the ray diagrams, I still didn't do well. I also didn't go through the combustion equations and I lost one mark :( I feel that I have troubles answering the light questions and drawing ray diagrams. Majority of the class did very well so I think its time for me to push myself even harder so I could strive for the better in the Term 3 Science Test which is focusing on Biology. With the help of my friends which specializes in Biology, I hope i can score an 80++ in the next test. HERE I COME :)

I also devised a plan and a motto for myself:
Never GIVE UP :)