Adapted from: Puberty: Understanding Your Changing 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

the rest of your life sperm cells a day for • 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

• Grow taller • Bones grow • Muscles grow • Weight gain is normal

boys?

• 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 grow darker and legs may • 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 Ovaries Uterus Cervix Vagina

Female Reproductive System Fallopian Tube Uterus Ovary 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 ?