Chapter 5 Par.

1: Reproduction and hormones

All kinds of processes in the human body are controlled by substances called
hormones.

Hormones Are produced by the endocrine system. They control for example
growth, development, glucose levels in your blood and they can even affect you heart
rate. Therefore, hormones are regulatory substances. Hormones also regulate the
reproductive system

Most of the hormones are also the same in females and males. This is not the case
for the reproductive system and the sex hormones.

Sex hormones Responsible for the development of specific male and female
characteristics.

In the brain a special  gland called the pituitary gland produces hormones that start
the production of reproductive cells: female egg cells and male sperm cells.
Egg cells and sperm cells transfer hereditary information to the next generation.

Chapter 5 Par.2: The male reproductive system

The male his external organs are the penis and the scrotum.

Scrotum A skin pouch which contains two organs called testes.

As a boy enters puberty, the testes start producing sperm cells.

Sperm cell = The cell has a head and a tail. The head contains hereditary
information. The tail moves the sperm cell along. 

Life of a sperm cell:

1. It all begins In the testes in the seminiferous tubules, where the Sperm cells
develop.
2. Than the sperm cell travels to the epididymis which is a cap-like structure
located on top of each testis.
3. Before they can leave the body, they first have to travel through the sperm
ducts ( also called the vas deferentia). There are two of these sperm ducts,
one for each testis. They lead away from the testes and towards the male
reproductive organs.
Sperm cells need nutrients for energy and fluids to swim. The seminal vesicles produce
some of this fluid. The rest of the fluid is produced by the prostate gland.Sperm cells
and fluid together are called semen.
4. The two vas join together and end in the urethra. This is a body tube inside
the penis that transports both semen and urine out of the body
When semen passes out of the body this is known as ejaculation.

The penis must be erect for the semen to pass out the body. This happens when
blood is pumped into spongy erectile tissue inside the penis.