Secondary 2 Biology First Edition Unit 5

Unit 5

5.1 – Gametes - page 55

1. List three ways in which an egg cell differs from other cells in the human body.
It is larger. It has food stores in its cytoplasm. It has only 23 chromosomes instead of 46.
2. List three ways in which a sperm cell differs from other cells in the human body.
It is smaller. It has a long tail and can swim. It does not have much cytoplasm. It has only
23 chromosomes instead of 46.
3. How many chromosomes will there be in a human zygote?
46
4. Explain why it is important that an egg cell and a sperm cell have only half the normal
number of chromosomes.
When the egg cell and sperm cell join together, the zygote ends up with the normal number
of chromosomes.

5.2 – The human reproductive system - Page 56

1. Name the part of the male reproductive system that has each of these functions:
a. makes sperm cells.
b. carries sperm cells from where they are made, into the urethra.
c. makes a sugary fluid for sperm cells to swim in

Keys:

a. testis
b. sperm duct
c. prostate gland or seminal vesicle
2. Name the part of the female reproductive system that has each of these functions:
a. makes egg cells
b. where fertilization happens
c. where the zygote develops into a baby

Keys:

a. ovary

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b. oviduct
c. uterus

5.3 – What happens to the egg cell? – Page 58

1. Name the part of the reproductive system in which fertilization happens.

2. What is an embryo?
3. Where does the embryo develop into a foetus, and then a baby?
4. Why does the uterus lining start to grow thick and spongy, as an egg cell develops in an
ovary?
5. What happens to the uterus lining if the egg cell is not fertilized?
6. How often does an egg cell have an ovary, in an adult woman?
7. How often does menstruation happen, in an adult woman?

Keys:

1. oviduct
2. A little ball of cells that forms after the zygote divides.
3. In the uterus
4. To be ready in case an embryo arrives
5. It breaks down and is lost through the vagina.
6. About once a month
7. About once a month

5.4 – From the embryo to baby – Page 60

1. In which part of the body does the growing embryo develop?

2. Explain how the growing embryo obtains food.
3. What is the amnion, and what is its function?
4. How long after fertilization does an embryo become a foetus?
5. How long after fertilization are most babies born?
6. Describe how the muscles in the uterus wall help a baby to be born.

Keys:

1. In the uterus

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2. From its mother’s blood, through the placenta.

3. It is a bag or membrane that surrounds the developing embryo and foetus. It produces
amniotic fluid, which supports the embryo and cushions it.
4. At 11 weeks
5. About 38 or 39 weeks
6. They contract to first widen the opening of the uterus, and then to push the baby out through
the vagina.

5.5 – Growth and development – Page 65

1. You have millions of cells in your body. Where did they all come from?
They all arose by division of the original zygote. Each new cell grows and divides to form
new cells, which again grow and divide and so on.
2. Look at the chart. By what age have most people become adults?

At about 19 years old

5.6 - Lifestyle and health

1. Think about the work that you did on diet in Unit 2. Imagine that one two-year-old child
has a diet with plenty of protein, and another has a low-protein diet. How might their
growth differ?

A child with a low-protein diet will grow more slowly than a child with a good diet.

2. Think back to the work that you did on diet and fitness in Unit 4. Imagine that one man
eats too much and is overweight, while another eats a balanced diet. How might their
ability to play football differ?
An overweight person will find it more difficult to play football. (This is because they have
more weight to move around, and because their heart and circulatory system may not be
able to supply enough oxygen to their muscles.)

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3. Think back to the work that you did on smoking in Unit 4. Imaging that one woman smokes,
and another woman does not smoke. How might their likelihood of getting lung cancer differ?

A smoker is much more likely to develop lung cancer than a non-smoker.

4. The bar chart shows the percentage of babies with a low birthweight born to mothers who
smoked different numbers of cigarettes per day.

a. What percentage of babies born to mothers who do not smoke have a low birthweight?
b. Calculate the percentage of babies born to non-smoking mothers which do not have a
low birthweight.
c. What is the effect of smoking during pregnancy on the chance of having a baby with
low birthweight?

Keys:

a. 3.5 %
b. 100 – 3.5 = 96.5 %
c. The more a mother smokes, the more likely that her child will have a low birthweight.

End of unit questions

5.1 Copy and complete each sentence, using words from the list. You may use each word once,
more than once or not at all.

egg embryo fertilisation gametes

ovary oviduct uterus

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a. Sperm cells and egg cells are _________.

b. The joining together of the nucleus of a sperm cell and the nucleus of an egg cell is called
_________.
c. A zygote is formed in the _________.
d. A zygote divides repeatedly to form an _________.

Keys:

a. gametes
b. fertilization
c. oviduct
d. embryo

5.2 The graph shows the mean mass of girls at different ages.

Workbook exercise

Exercise 5.1 External fertilization – Page 42

Read the information below, and then answer the questions that follows.

In mammals,

In mammals, including humans, fertilization happens inside the body. A sperm cell fuses with
an egg cell inside the oviduct. This is called internal fertilization.

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In most amphibians and fish, fertilization happens outside the body. The female lays her eggs in
water. Then the male adds sperm cells to them. The sperm cells swim through the water, find
the eggs and fertilise them.

Amphibians, such as tree frogs, have to go back to water to breed. Tree frogs often lay their eggs
in little pools of water that are trapped in hole s in trees, or in bromeliad plants.
1. Explain the meaning of the term fertilisation.
Fertilisation is the joining together of the nucleus of a male gamete (sperm cell) and a
female gamete (egg cell).
2. Explain the difference between internal fertilisation and external fertilisation.
Internal fertilisation happens when a sperm cell fuses with an egg cell inside the female’s
body. External fertilization happens when a sperm cell fuses with an egg cell outside the
female’s body, in water.
3. External fertilization can only happen in water. Suggest why.
Sperm cells can only swim in water, not in air, so they would not be able to swim to the
egg. The cells would dry out and die in air.
4. Most animals that have external fertilization produce more eggs than animals that have
internal fertilization. For example, humans produce only one egg cell at a time. Fish
produce thousands of eggs at a time.
Suggest some reasons for this.
There is less chance of a sperm cell finding an egg in the water than inside a female
animal’s body, so there need to be more sperm cells and eggs to increase the probability
that at least some find each other.
There is a higher chance of eggs, zygotes and embryos being eaten if they are developing
in the water, rather than inside the female’s bod, so there need to be more of them to
increase the probability that at least some will survive.

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Exercise 5.3 The menstrual cycle – Page 44

1. Draw one line from each word to join it to its definition.

Keys:
Ovulation – the release of an egg from an ovary
Menstruation – the monthly loss of the uterus lining
Fertilization – the joining together of the nucleus of a male gamete and a female gamete.
Embryo – a little ball of cells, formed when the zygote divides
Zygote – the cell that is formed when a male gamete fertilizes a female gamete

The graph shows how the lining of the uterus changes during one menstrual cycle.

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2. How many weeks does the menstrual cycle shown in the graph last?
Four
3. The first day of the cycle was on 1st June. On which date did ovulation happen?
June 14th
4. On which of these dates could fertilization happen? Circle the correct answer.
1st June 12th June 15th June
June 15th
5. Explain why it is important for the lining of the uterus to start to get thicker before
ovulation happens.
So that it is ready to receive an embryo if the egg is fertilized. The tiny embryo will sink
into the uterus lining and begin to grow and develop.

Exercise 5.4 Gestation periods - Page 46

The gestation period of a mammal is the time between fertilization and the birth of a baby animals.
It is the time during which the young animal develops inside the mother’s uterus.

The table shows the mean mass of an adult female of eight different species of mammals, and the
mean gestation period for that species.

1. In the table below rearrange the data so that it is easier to see if there is a relationship
between the mean mass of a female and the mean gestation time.

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Keys:

2. Is there a correlation between the mean mass of a female and the mean gestation time?
Explain your answer and use figures from the table to support it.
There is no correlation.
For example, wolves and chimpanzees both have a mean mass of 40 kg, but the gestation
of a chimpanzee is more than three times longer than that of a wolf. Goats are much smaller
than wolves but have a longer gestation period.
For example, the largest animal (elephant) has the longest gestation period, and the smallest
animal (rabbit) has the shortest.
3. Suggest why the figures in the table are shown as “Mean mass” and “Mean gestation
time”, rather than simply “Mass” and “Gestation time”.

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There will be a lot of variation in the mass of the female animals in a species. Many
different females would have been weighed, and their masses recorded so that a mean could
be calculated. Similarly, gestation periods will vary between individuals.

Exercise 5.5 Human growth – Page 48

The graph shows the mean heights of boys and girls of different ages.

1. What is the mean height of boys at age 12?

142 cm
2. Between what ages is the mean height of girls greater than the mean height of boys?
Between ages 2 – 4 years and 11 – 15 years.
3. Between which of the following ages is the rate of growth of boys the greater?
Circle the correct answer.
0 – 2 years 4 – 6 years 16 – 18 years
Keys: 0 – 2 years

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4. There is a growth sport- that is, the rate of growth increases at puberty. Use the graph
to suggest when puberty happens.
In girls -------
In boys -------
Between ages 10 and 12 in girls, and between ages 14 and 17 in boys.

Exercise 5.6 Does caffeine affect birthweight? – Page 50

A study was carried out in Sweden to investigate the idea that women who drink a lot of coffee
during pregnancy might have smaller babies. 1037 pregnant women took part. They each
answered a questionnaire about how much coffee they drank.

When their babies were born, their birthweights were measured. The results are shown in the
table.

1. Plot these results as a bar chart on the grid. Think carefully about the range for the scale
on the y-axis. Remember that you do not need to begin at 0.

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Keys:
x-axis – caffeine intake per day/mg
y-axis – mean birthweight / g
spaced scale – e.g., from 3500 to 3700, in divisions of 25s or 50s
2. What conclusion can you make from these results? Explain your answer and use figures
from the table to support it.
Caffeine intake has no effect on mean birthweight.
e.g., a difference of just a few grams is not significant when the total mass is more than
3000g.
3. Suggest two ways in which the researchers could have improved their study.
e.g.,
they could have used more mothers in their study.
They could have used a wider range of caffeine intake.
They could have split the levels of caffeine intake into smaller intervals, for example less
than 49, from 50 to 99, from 100 to 149 and so on.

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