Module 3

Module 3:The Male and Female Reproductive Systems

Lesson 1—the Human Male Reproductive System

 

Get Focused

 

Choices you make in your life are not always yours alone. When you were a young child, your parents and loved ones made many important choices for you. One of the choices they made was to decide whether or not you should be immunized against certain diseases.

 

You may remember the concept of antibody-mediated immunity from Biology 20. The body forms antibodies (proteins) to recognize, neutralize, and destroy foreign substances. In childhood immunization programs, children are given vaccines designed to stimulate the body’s defense mechanism into fighting off certain contagious diseases. If allowed to develop, some of these contagious diseases can have severe consequences to reproductive health. Do you know what immunizations you received as a child?

 

Tim’s parents decided not to immunize him with the MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccine when he was a child. At age nineteen,Tim developed a severe case of mumps. The mumps led to orchitis—very painful swelling of the testicles. Orchitis affects one in five adult men and its symptoms can lead to infertility. This could be distressing to Tim later in life. Orchitis could cause so much damage to his reproductive structures and their normal functions that Tim may not be able to father children. You can learn more about Tim’s condition using the term “orchitis” in an Internet search.

 

Infertility is on the rise in North America. If infertility rises significantly at a global level, the continuity of the human species could be disrupted. Some couples are infertile because of structural or functional issues with one partner’s reproductive system.

 

In Lesson 1 you will investigate the male reproductive system and many issues that affect male fertility. You will investigate the following focusing questions:

• What are the main structures and functions of the male reproductive system?

• How do these structures support continuity of the human species?

• What is the functional unit of the male reproductive system?

Module 3: Lesson 1 Assignment

 

Download a copy of the Module 3: Lesson 1 Assignment to your computer now. You will receive further instructions about how to complete this assignment later in the lesson.

 

The other questions in this lesson are not marked by the teacher; however, you should still answer these questions. The Self-Check and Try This questions are placed in this lesson to help you review important information and build key concepts that may be applied in future lessons.

 

After a discussion with your teacher, you must decide what to do with the questions that are not part of your assignment. For example, you may decide to submit to your teacher the responses to Try This questions that are not marked. You should record the answers to all the questions in this lesson and place those answers in your course folder.

 

During this lesson you will begin the Unit B Assessment project, “A Fertility Case Study.”  In addition to your lesson work, store any notes about the infertile couples you learn about in your course folder for your teacher’s feedback.

 

While you are completing this lesson, there will be many opportunities for you to acquire, understand, and practise the concepts that are presented to you. As you complete these activities and your summary notes, file everything in your course folder to reference when you are preparing for exams.

 

Remember that you also have the option of trying additional questions from the textbook for further practice. Consult with your teacher for the answers to these questions. The Key will also provide you with many Diploma Exam-style multiple-choice, numerical-response, and written-response questions that will be an excellent review of the module. Practising your responses to these types of questions is good preparation for the Diploma Exam.

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