2. • When we talk about these changes it is normal to feel…
curious disgust comfortable
excitedembarrassedshy
3. 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
4. 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
5. What is puberty?
• It is the time when our bodies change from a child’s
body to an adult body.
Girls – Start to release
eggs
Boys – Start to make
sperm cell
6. What is puberty?
• These are the cells that are necessary to make a
new human.
7. When do changes
happen?
• Anywhere between 8 and 17 years old?
• Most people begin between the ages of 10 and 14
• When you start makes no difference to how you
develop.
• No age is better than any other one.
• For some most changes happen in a few years
• For some changes happen slowly over lots of years.
8. Girls Boys
• Get taller and heavier
• Hips get wider and more
curvy
• Face changes shape
• Oily skin and hair, pimples
• Voices get a little deeper
• Hair grows under the armpits
and around the genitals
• Hair on arms and legs grows
darker
• Breasts and nipples get
larger
• Body sweats more
• Internal and external sex
organs grow
• May have mood swings,
sexual thoughts and feelings.
• Get taller and heavier
• Nose and jaw get bigger
• Face gets longer
• Get more muscles
• Oily skin and hair, pimples
• Body sweats more
• Hair grows on the face, under
armpits, around the genitals
• May get more hair on arms, legs
and chest
• Voice gets deeper
• Penis and testicles grow, scrotum
changes
• May have mood swings, sexual
thoughts and feelings
9. What causes these
changes?
• Hormones – chemical messengers that travel the
blood stream from the place where they are made
to the place where they do their work.
• Each hormone has a specific job
• Both girls and boys make the same sex hormones.
The main ones are testosterone and estrogen.
• Boys make lots of testosterone, and not so much
estrogen.
• Girls make lots of estrogen, not so much
testosterone.
10. Daily Checklist for a
Changing Body
Shower daily
Use deodorant or anti-perspirant on the underarms
Wash face daily to help prevent acne
Brush teeth twice per day
Use shampoo on your hair to prevent oilyness
Eat a well balanced diet
Get plenty of exercise.
11. What About Feelings?
Both girls and boys can experience many different feelings or
emotions as they grow up.
What are some of the feelings?
24. These are the cells necessary to make a new human:
Sperm + Egg = Baby
25. 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
27. Boys (Ages 10-15)
When do I Start
Puberty?
Girls (Ages 8-14)
• Everyone is different
• Everyone will start and finish at a different
time
• This is normal
28. What Makes Puberty
Start?
The pituitary gland sends a signal to the body in
boys and girls to produce the hormone that starts
puberty.
29. Do Boys and Girls
Produce the Same
Hormone?
In Girls:
The pituitary gland
sends a signal to the
ovaries to produce
Estrogen.
In Boys:
The pituitary gland
sends a signal to the
testicles to produce
Testosterone.
31. 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
32. 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
33. 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
34. 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
37. 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
38. What Causes an
Erection?
• Boys get erections for all kinds of reasons.
o When a boy has to go to the bathroom
o When nervous or anxious
o By touching their penis
o Sometimes for no reason during puberty
39. 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.
42. 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
43. 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
44. 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
45. 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
46. 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.
47. 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
48. 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
49. Where Can I Get More
Information?
• Parents or other family members
• Other trusted adults (teachers)
• Health Professionals
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
You may have mood swings
You may love your friends or family at times and not want to have anything to do with them at other time.
Sometimes you may feel grown-up, other times like a kid.
There may be lots of tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some of these feelings.
Male hormone – Testosterone
Female hormone – Estrogen
Scrotum – The sac of skin which holds the pair of testes.
Penis – It is a spongy, muscular organ that becomes enlarged and erect when sexually aroused. It varies in size. Testicles grow first so your penis may look as if it is shrinking. It isn’t. It can take a while for your penis to grow. Penises, like noses and ear and hands, come in all sizes and shapes and colours. They vary how they curve and stick out when erect. Penises, when erect, are more alike in size than when they are soft. They al work.
Urethra – The tube through which urine and semen leave the body.
Testicles (testes) – The male sex glands which produce sperm and testosterone (a male hormone).
Epididymis – A tube on the surface of each testicle which stores and transports sperm to the vas deferens.
Vas deferens – A sperm duct which leads from each testicle to the ejaculatory duct.
Seminal vesicles – Pair of glands which add a nourishing fluid to the sperm.
Prostate gland – Produces a milky fluid which forms part of the semen.
Bladder – A bag-shaped organ which holds the urine until it is discharged.
Scrotum – The sac of skin which holds the pair of testes.
Penis – It is a spongy, muscular organ that becomes enlarged and erect when sexually aroused. It varies in size. Testicles grow first so your penis may look as if it is shrinking. It isn’t. It can take a while for your penis to grow. Penises, like noses and ear and hands, come in all sizes and shapes and colours. They vary how they curve and stick out when erect. Penises, when erect, are more alike in size than when they are soft. They al work.
Urethra – The tube through which urine and semen leave the body.
Testicles (testes) – The male sex glands which produce sperm and testosterone (a male hormone).
Epididymis – A tube on the surface of each testicle which stores and transports sperm to the vas deferens.
Vas deferens – A sperm duct which leads from each testicle to the ejaculatory duct.
Seminal vesicles – Pair of glands which add a nourishing fluid to the sperm.
Prostate gland – Produces a milky fluid which forms part of the semen.
Bladder – A bag-shaped organ which holds the urine until it is discharged.
However it happens is okay.
Ovary – It releases egg cells and produces hormones (estrogen and progesterone).
Fallopian Tubes – Tubes leading from the ovary to the top of the uterus, with finger-like projections that surround an ovary.
Uterus – Pear-shaped organ which nourishes and holds a developing fetus. It prepares for a pregnancy each month by forming a blood and tissue lining.
Uterine Lining – The lining of the uterus which thickens and sheds during the menstrual cycle.
Cervix – The narrow inner end of the vagina, which leads to the uterus.
Vagina – A muscular tube which expands to fit the penis during intercourse or a baby during birth.
Vaginal Opening – The opening to the vagina.
Clitoris – a highly sensitive organ above the urinary opening which may provide pleasure in orgasm to females when stimulated.
Pubis – A fleshy pad of tissue which is covered with pubic hair.
Labia – Fold of skin (inner and outer) which protect the (inner, outer) internal reproduction organs.
Ovary – It releases egg cells and produces hormones (estrogen and progesterone).
Fallopian Tubes – Tubes leading from the ovary to the top of the uterus, with finger-like projections that surround an ovary.
Uterus – Pear-shaped organ which nourishes and holds a developing fetus. It prepares for a pregnancy each month by forming a blood and tissue lining.
Uterine Lining – The lining of the uterus which thickens and sheds during the menstrual cycle.
Cervix – The narrow inner end of the vagina, which leads to the uterus.
Vagina – A muscular tube which expands to fit the penis during intercourse or a baby during birth.
Vaginal Opening – The opening to the vagina.
Clitoris – a highly sensitive organ above the urinary opening which may provide pleasure in orgasm to females when stimulated.
Pubis – A fleshy pad of tissue which is covered with pubic hair.
Labia – Fold of skin (inner and outer) which protect the (inner, outer) internal reproduction organs.
Parents can be a really good source of information when it comes to sex and sexual health. They can answer questions and give great advice. But sometimes it can be intimidating to approach parents with hard questions. Puberty class is a great introduction - talk to your parents about what you learned. Movies might also open a door for conversation. Or use a hypothetical example.
