Adapted from: Puberty: Understanding Your Changin
Body. SexualityandU.ca, 2010
The Changing Me. . .
What’s Happening?
Class Guidelines:
• Giggling is OK
• Respect what others say
• Understand other’s feelings
• Discuss puberty topics responsibly outside the classroom
• There are no dumb questions
What is Puberty?
• Time of change from child to adult
• When the body reaches maturity
• Emotional changes occur
• Bodies of boys and girls develop and become
fertile
What Does Fertile Mean?
Boys start to make
sperm cells
Girls start to make
egg cells
These are the cells necessary to make a new human:
Sperm + Egg = Baby
Sperm
• After puberty you make 200,000 - 400,000 sperm cells a day for
the rest of your life
• Sperm build up in tubes around the testicles
• They travel along some tubes and mix with fluids from glands
3 Major Growth
Spurts
1. Conception to Birth
2. Birth to one year old
3. Puberty
When do I Start
Puberty?
Boys (Ages 10-15)
•
•
•
Girls (Ages 8-14)
Everyone is different
Everyone will start and finish at a different
time
This is normal
What Makes Puberty
Start?
The pituitary gland sends a signal to the body in
boys and girls to produce the hormone that starts
puberty.
Do Boys and Girls
Produce the Same
Hormone?
In Girls:
In Boys:
The pituitary gland
sends a signal to the
ovaries to produce
Estrogen.
The pituitary gland
sends a signal to the
testicles to produce
Testosterone.
How Does my Body
Change During Puberty?
What Changes Happen to
Boys?
• Hair growth (pubic area, under
the armpits, and on the face)
• May get more hair on arms,
legs, chest and back
• Voice gets deeper
• Penis and testicles grow
• Sperm is produced
• May have mood swings,
sexual thoughts and feelings
What changes happen to
boys?
•
•
•
•
•
Grow taller
Bones grow
Muscles grow
Weight gain is normal
Hair and skin become oily
and you may get pimples
• Body sweats more
What changes happen to
girls?
• Grow taller
•
•
•
•
Bones grow
Hips get wider and more curvy
Weight gain is normal
Hair and skin become oily
and you may get pimples
• Voice gets a little deeper
What changes happen to
girls?
• Hair grows under armpits
and in pubic area
• Hair on arms and legs may
grow darker
• Breast and nipples get larger
• Body sweats more
• Menstruation (period) begins
• May have mood swings,
sexual thoughts and feelings
Male Reproductive
System
Urethra
Penis
Testes or Testicles
Scrotum
Male Reproductive
System
Bladder
Seminal Vesicle
Prostate Gland
Urethra
Penis
Epididymis
Testicle or Testes
Scrotum
What Is an Erection?
•
•
•
•
If semen is going to come out, the penis is likely to be
erect.
A penis gets erect when blood rushes to it.
Muscles push the semen into the urethra and out the
penis
This is called ejaculation
What Causes an
Erection?
• Boys get erections for all kinds of reasons.
–
–
–
–
When a boy has to go to the bathroom
When nervous or anxious
By touching their penis
Sometimes for no reason during puberty
When Does Ejaculation
Happen?
• If a boy wakes up and finds a wet, sticky spot on his sheets
or pajamas - semen came out when he was sleeping. This
is called a “wet dream”.
• If a boy touches or rubs his penis and it get erect and
semen comes out. This is called masturbation.
• Some boys have wet dreams - some don’t.
• Some boys masturbate, some don’t.
Female Reproductive
System
Fallopian Tube
Uterus
Cervix
Vagina
Ovaries
Female Reproductive
System
Fallopian Tube
Ovary
Uterus
Bladder
Cervix
Clitoris
Urethra
Vaginal Opening
Rectum
So What Are Periods and Why
Do They Happen?
• Girls are born with hundreds of
thousands of tiny eggs, called ova –
one is called an ovum
• These egg cells are only half formed
• At puberty, hormones tell the ovaries it
is time to start releasing ova
• Usually one egg at a time develops
and is released from an ovary
So What Are Periods and Why
Do They Happen?
At the same time, the uterus starts to
grow a thick lining on the inside wall
• The lining has lots of tiny blood
vessels
• The lining is there to protect and
feed an egg that has combined
with a sperm to form a fertilized
egg
So What Are Periods and Why
Do They Happen?
If an egg does not meet a sperm, the lining
is not needed.
• It breaks up
• Mixed with some blood it comes out
the uterus into the vagina and then
out the vaginal opening
This is called menstruation but lots of
females just call it their period.
• If a woman is not pregnant then her
ovary will release another egg, the
lining build up and, if the egg is not
fertilized, she has another period
• This is called the menstrual cycle
When will I get my period?
• No one can tell exactly when it will start
• Many girls get some white or yellow stuff on their underwear
• It is mucus and tells the girl that her period is coming sometime within
the next year
How long will the bleeding last?
• Each female is different. It can vary from 3 – 8 days
• During a period we only lose a few tablespoons to about half a cup of
blood in that time – not a lot
How often will I get a period?
• At first there may not be any pattern to
when you will get your next period
• Some women never have a regular
pattern
• Most women eventually have a regular
cycle – they know approximately when
their next period will happen
• The length of a cycle is from the first day
of bleeding one month to the first day of
bleeding the next time it happens
• Each person is different so some women
may have a period every 23 days, some
every 28 days and some every 35 days
Lots of girls keep a calendar
to help them keep track of when they
have their period
and how long it lasts.
What Do I do When I Get My
Period?
• Females use pads or tampons to catch the blood that comes from the
vagina
• Sanitary pads are made of material that absorbs the blood
• Most have a sticky strip on one side to hold the pad to the underwear
• Pads come in a variety of sizes and shapes
What Do I do When I Get
My Period?
• A tampon is a small plug of material that fits inside the female’s vagina
to absorb the blood
• Some girls like to use tampons, especially if they are doing physical
activities
• Some girls only use pads
It is up to you
What About Feelings?
Both girls and boys can experience many different feelings or
emotions as they grow up.
What are some of the feelings?
What About Feelings?
Both girls and boys can experience lots of
feelings as they grow up
Where Can I Get More
Information?
• Parents or other family members
• Other trusted adults (teachers)
• Health Professionals
Questions ?