Male Reproductive System

Structure and Function

• Sperm – Reproductive cells in males• Testes – oval shaped, male reproductive glands

– 2 Functions:• Produce testosterone (sex hormone that affects

production of sperm and signals certain physical changes at puberty)

• Produce sperm– Hang outside the body in sac of skin called scrotum

• Penis – the external sexual organ in which sperm leave the body

Pathway of Sperm

• Produced in testes

• Stored in epididymis

• Travel through vas deferens to seminal vesicles

• Fluid is added here, in the prostate gland, and the bulbourethral glands to form semen

Release of Sperm

• Ejaculation – ejection of semen from the penis

• Semen exits body through the urethra

– Also carries urine (not at the same time)

Female Reproductive System

Structure and Function

• Eggs or Ova – Female reproductive cells• Ovaries – the reproductive glands in which eggs

are produced• Two functions:

– Produce female sex hormones • Estrogen• Progesterone

– Release mature egg cells

• Ovulation – when a mature egg is released by the ovary and travels into the fallopian tube

Structure and Function Continued

• Fallopian Tubes – passageways that carry eggs from the ovaries

• Uterus – a hollow, muscular, pear-shaped organ where a fertilized egg can develop and grow

• Vagina – birth canal: a hollow, muscular passage leading from the uterus to the outside of the body

Menstrual Cycle

The process during which a ovary releases a mature egg that travels to the uterus