Reproductive Anatomy: Male & Female
1. Both the male and female reproductive systems contain the same basic parts, fill in their
functions:
Gonads:
Ducts:
Accessory Glands:
External Genitalia:
2. What are the male gonads called?
3. How does sperm differ from semen?
4. What are the female gonads called?
The Male:
5. Use figure 19-1 to help you draw a diagram of the male reproductive system that includes
all of the following:
Testis
Epididymis
Ductus deferens (vas deferens)
Ejaculatory duct
Urethra
Seminal vesicles
Prostate gland
Bulbourethral glands
Scrotum
Penis
6. If one testis becomes infected, will it generally spread to the other testis? Why or why not?
7. What are the two muscles associated with the male testes and what do they do?
8. Why are these muscles necessary?
9. Look at figure 19-2a. Notice how the testes are separated into small areas called lobules. A
membrane called septa separates each lobule. Coiled inside each lobule are small tubules
called _________________________. What occurs within these tubules?
11. The seminiferous tubules in each lobule connect to a maze of passageways known as the
rete testis and this in turn connects to the epididymis. On your diagram above add the
following structures: lobules, septa, seminiferous tubules, and rete testes.
12. Located between the seminiferous tubules are blood vessels and cells that secrete the
dominant male sex hormones called androgens. What is the most important androgen?
13. Read about spermatogenesis on pages 616-617. Fill in the missing areas on the flow chart
and add notes in the margins about each step.
Outermost layer of cells in the seminiferous tubules
spermatogonia
Mitosis
Meiosis
spermatozoa
Fluid of lumen inside
the seminiferous
tubule
14. A spermatozoon (singular for spermatozoa) has three distinct regions, label the picture and
state the function of each part.
15. Is a spermatozoon newly formed from the testes capable of fertilizing an oocyte?
16. Once spermatozoa are released into the lumen of the seminiferous tubules they are
transported to the epididymis. What are the three functions of the epididymis?
17. Spermatozoa leaving the epididymis are still not able to fertilize an oocyte. They must first
undergo capacitation. What are the two steps of capacitation?
18. Next the spermatozoa enter the ductus deferens. How does spermatozoa move through the
ductus deferens? ______________________ How long can it stay here? ____________________
19. Spermatozoa coming from the ductus deferens are joined by fluid from the seminal
vessicles. What is this fluid and what does it do?
20. The prostate gland also secretes fluid called prostatic fluid. What is it and what does it do?
21. The final glands to add fluid to semen are the bulbourethral glands. What is this fluid and
what does it do?
22. An ejaculate (2-5ml of semen) contains what?
23. The penis contains two types of erectile tissue. Describe what they are and how erection
occurs.
THE FEMALE
24. Use figure 19-8 to help you draw a diagram of the female reproductive system that
includes all of the following:
ovaries
uterine tubes
uterus
vagina
cervix
clitoris
25. What are the functions of the ovaries?
26. Ovum production, or oogenesis begins __________________________________, accelerates at
______________________________, and ends at ___________________________________. Between
puberty and menopause, oogenesis occurs on a monthly basis as part of the ovarian cycle.
Explain how oogenesis occurs in the female.
27. What is an ovarian follicle? Where are they located and what do they contain?
28. The Ovarian cycle is concerned with what happens to the ovarian follicle each month.
Complete the flow chart below for the Ovarian cycle and take notes on each step.
Primordial follicles in
egg nest
Step 1: formation of
primary follicles
Primary follicles
Step 2: formation of
secondary follicles
Step 3: formation of
tertiary follicles
Step 4: Ovulation
Ovulation
Step 5: formation and
degeneration of corpus
luteum
Step 6:
Corpus albicans
29. At puberty each ovary contains about 200,000 primordial follicles, about 500 of them are
ovulated during a females life. What happens to the rest of them?
30. When the secondary oocyte is released during ovulation it leaves the ovaries and travels
along the uterine tubes for 3-4 days. If the oocyte is to be fertilized it needs to happen
between ______________ and _____________________?
31. If an oocyte is fertilized by a spermatozoon the result is a pre-embryo that will develop into
an embryo and enventually a fetus. The Pre-embryo will leave the uterine tube and enter the
Uterus. What does the uterus do?
32. The uterus has two main layers, the myometrium and the endometrium. What are these
two layers made of and what is their function?
Myometrium
Endometrium
33. What is the uterine cycle and how long does it last?
34. The uterine cycle has three phases: (1) menses, (2) proliferative phase, and (3) secretory
phase. How do these phases correspond to the phases of the ovarian cycle?
35. Read about and take notes on each stage of the uterine cycle.
(1) menses
(2) proliferative phase
(3) secretory phase
36. What are menarche and menopause?
37. What are the three functions of the vagina?
38. The area containing the external genitalia of the female is called the vulva. Located in the
vulva anterior to the opening of the vagina and urethra is a small organ called the clitoris. What
is this organ?
39. Various glands discharge secretions into the vagina and vulva. Name them and the
function of their secretions.
40. Read about the physiology of sexual intercourse and summarize the following
Male Sexual Function:
Female sexual function:
41. Both the male and female reproductive systems rely heavily on hormones. Both systems
are regulated by hormones and movement from one phase to another is dependant on the level
of specific hormones present in the body. Use the text and the chart on page 635 to
summarize the hormones of the reproductive system.
Hormone
Effect in Males
Effect in Females
GnRH
FSH
LH
Androgens
Estrogens
Progestins
Inhibin