Lesson 3

Birth, Growth, and Aging

 Focus Question

What are the stages of human development

from infancy to adulthood?
 New Vocabulary

labor
dilation
expulsion stage
placental stage
infancy
childhood
adolescence
adulthood
 Review Vocabulary

growth: increase in the amount of living material

and formation of new structures in an organism
 Birth

• Birth occurs in three stages:

• Dilation
• Expulsion
• The placental stage
• The beginning of the birthing process is called
labor.
• A sign the baby is going to be born is the
dilation, or opening, of the cervix.
• When the amniotic sac tears and amniotic fluid
flows out of the vagina, it is sometimes called
“water breaking.”
Birth
 Birth
The mother consciously will contract her abdominal
muscles to help push the baby, usually head first,
through the vagina in the expulsion stage.
 Birth
The placenta detaches from the uterus and leaves the
mother’s body, along with extraembryonic membranes, in
the placental stage.
 Growth and Aging

Infancy
• Infancy is the first two years of human life.
• The first year is the most rapid period of growth.

Childhood and Adolescence

• Childhood is the period of growth and
development that extends from infancy to
adolescence.
• Puberty marks the beginning of adolescence.
• Puberty begins between ages 8 to 13 in girls and
between ages 10 to 15 in boys.
 Growth and Aging

Adulthood
• At the end of adolescence, physical growth is
complete, marking the beginning of adulthood.
• Physical changes perhaps are the most
noticeable signs of aging.
• Other changes include a decrease in muscle
mass, a slowing of overall metabolism, and a
decreased pumping ability of the heart.