Birth and Beyond

When you think about it, new life is a total miracle! How is it possible that the sperm and egg - both less than 1mm in size - could contain all the instructions to build a fully-functioning, independent human being? Amazingly, they do!

In this worksheet we'll look at what happens as that baby is born, and we will then look at the child as it develops and grows - it's a journey we've all been on, but look at it in a new light - it truly is a miracle!

So, once that egg was fertilised in the woman's oviduct, the embryo developed into a fetus and spent 9 months in the uterus (womb) while the mother was pregnant - this is also called the GESTATION PERIOD.  When the baby is ready to be born, the muscles of the uterus start to contract as they prepare to push the baby out into a waiting world - we would say that the mum is in LABOUR.  This lasts anything from just a couple of hours up to about 24 and out comes a little one weighing about 3-4kg (although, of course, this varies enormously).  About half an hour later the PLACENTA, which supplied all the baby's needs while it was inside the uterus, is expelled from the mother's body, it's job completed.

Young mammals are fed on their mother's milk for the first few months of their lives during which time their cells continue to multiply as they grow and grow, fed on the variety of nutrients in the milk.

Throughout their early lives, HORMONES are being released into the bloodstream to control various stages of development and that includes PUBERTY, the point at which young people become sexually mature.

Are you ready to check out your understanding of what happens at birth and beyond?  You're bringing a mixture of previous knowledge and what's here.  Let's find out ....