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TExES Life Science 7-12 (238): Practice & Study Guide31 chapters | 252 lessons | 30 flashcard sets
Video: The Female Reproductive System: Functions & Parts
You know the saying. . . men are from Mars, women are from Venus. We all know that men and women think differently, and we all know that we look different on the outside, but do you know what we look like on the inside?The Female Reproductive System: Functions & Parts
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Lesson Transcript
Instructor:
Heather Adewale
Heather has taught reproductive biology and has researched neuro, repro and endocrinology. She has a PhD in Zoology/Biology.
You know the saying. . . men are from Mars, women are from Venus. We all know that men and women think differently, and we all know that we look different on the outside, but do you know what we look like on the inside?
The Female Reproductive Tract
The extent of your familiarity with the female reproductive tract may have to do with which sex you are. Do you know what the female reproductive system looks like on the inside? Learning the basics of female anatomy is essential to understanding how the female menstrual cycle works, how birth control works and of course, pregnancy.
Think of the female reproductive tract as a journey the egg takes - this microscopic cell that has the potential to become a fully developed newborn child. All of the structures in the female reproductive tract are there to help this egg mature, travel and/or develop.
Ovaries and Uterine Tubes
It all begins with the ovaries. The ovaries are a paired structure that house eggs. There is one on either side of the larger structure in the middle called the uterus. Inside each ovary are thousands of potential eggs or oocytes. These tiny cells are paused in an early stage of cell reproduction. Each month a group of them are recruited and chosen to be matured, but of this group only one lucky egg will reach full maturation. Hormones from the female's brain and the egg itself will help the immature egg grow and develop. Once ready, the ovary sends a signal to the brain, telling it that the egg is ready to be released. Where you ask? Well that is the second step of our journey.
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In the above cross section of an ovary, you see the phases of egg development. To the far left are immature eggs. As you move across the top to the right egg, maturation occurs. The mature egg is being released on the bottom right of the ovary. This image depicts all stages of egg development occurring at once; however, in a normal functioning ovary, the steps of egg development occur sequentially.
Next to each ovary there is a uterine tube. This tube is filled with tiny little hairs called cilia. Once the mature egg is released from the ovary, it enters the uterine tube and the cilia push the egg down the tube towards the uterus. You can think of the ovary as the egg's home and the uterine tubes as the highway to the egg's final destination. Along the way, the egg may or may not meet up with sperm from the male. If the egg does meet up with sperm, the egg and sperm with fuse together and continue traveling to the final destination, the uterus.
Uterus
If the ovary is the home of the egg, the uterus can be thought of as the home of a developing fetus. Remember that egg that fused with the sperm? Well that allowed the DNA of the mom to combine with the DNA of the dad, creating a fertilized egg, now called a zygote, that has the potential to grow into a fetus. But that zygote needs somewhere to grow and develop. That's what the uterus is for. Once the zygote reaches the uterus, it implants itself into the inner lining of the uterus.
Let's take a more in depth look at the uterus. The uterus is a large muscular structure with three layers. The outmost layer covers the uterus and helps it attach to the body. This is called the perimetrium. The middle layer is the myometrium. This layer is the muscular layer of the uterus. This is the layer that causes the contractions a women feels during labor. And the innermost layer is called the endometrium. Now the endometrium is a little more complicated than the other two layers, because it actually grows and sheds its tissue each month. During the month, the endometrium builds up in preparation for a potential egg to implant. If the egg doesn't implant, then the tissue sheds and is built up again the next month. This is what we call menstruation, or a woman's period.
So, why wouldn't an egg implant? Well, if the egg never meets up with that sperm, then it doesn't get fertilized. Unfertilized eggs degenerate and are shed with the endometrium during menstruation.
Cervix and Vaginal Canal
That blood and tissue exit the uterus through the opening at the bottom of the organ, known as the cervix, and flow down the vaginal canal and out the body. So the cervix is like the doorway to the female reproductive tract. Sperm have to pass through this doorway to gain entry. And the vaginal canal? Well that's the hallway leading up to the doorway.
External Female Structures
The vaginal canal is surrounded on both sides by two sets of skin folds. The labia minora and the labia majora. The labia majora are the larger, outer skin folds, while the labia minora are the smaller, inner skin folds. Both of these help keep the vaginal area moist, guide urine and protect a smaller structure called the clitoris. The clitoris is located at the top, where the labia minora come together. This is the location of female erectile tissue. All together the clitoris, labia and the vaginal canal are called the vulva.
Lesson Summary
The female reproductive system is made up of the internal female reproductive tract and external reproductive structures. The internal tract includes the ovaries; these produce the female's eggs, or potential future offspring. Once the eggs mature, they are released into the uterine tubes which transport them to the uterus. The uterus is where a zygote, fertilized egg, grows and develops into a fetus. The uterus itself has three layers: the outer perimetrium which surrounds it; the middle muscular layer, the myometrium; and the inner endometrium which grows and sheds its tissue each month in preparation for a zygote to arrive.
The opening to the uterus is the cervix, and on the other side of the cervix is the entrance to the internal tract, the vaginal canal. This is surrounded by two skin folds, the labia minora and the labia majora. At the top of the labia minora is the female's version of erectile tissue, the clitoris. Together these external structures are called the vulva.
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Lesson
3 in chapter 26 of the course:
- Overview of Animal Reproduction and Development 6:31
- The Male Reproductive System: Function & Parts 6:25
- The Female Reproductive System: Functions & Parts 5:22
- Implantation & Development of the Embryo & Placenta
- Anatomy & Physiology of Pregnancy 6:29
- Gastrulation and the 3 Germ Layers (Ectoderm, Endoderm & Mesoderm) 7:58
- Spemann's Organizer & Signaling Molecules
- Go to TExES Life Science: Human Reproduction & Development
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