Pre-IGCSE Biology 16

Dr. Ei Ei Min
5.1 Gametes
Gametes – eggs and sperms
They are adapted for reproduction.
Egg cells and sperm cells
- Egg cells - female gametes.
- bigger than most other cells.
- about the size of the full stop at the end of this sentence.
- quite large to make space for food stores in their cytoplasm.

- Sperm cells - male gametes.

- smaller than most other cells.
- have only a tiny amount of cytoplasm.
- have a long tail, so that they can swim.
Chromosomes
- In nucleus.
- long, thread-like structures.
- made up of the genetic material (information about how the cell will develop).
- 46 chromosomes in every cell in your body.
- But gametes have only 23 chromosomes.
Questions
1 List three ways in which an egg cell differs from other cells in the human body.
2 List three ways in which a sperm cell differs from other cells in the human body.
3 How many chromosomes will there be in a human zygote?
4 Explain why it is important that an egg cell and a sperm cell have only half the
normal number of chromosomes.
Fertilization
- the head of the sperm cell goes into the egg cell.
- The nucleus of the sperm cell and the nucleus of the egg cell join together.
- The new cell that is produced is called a zygote.
Summary
- Gametes are special cells adapted for reproduction.
- They have half the number of chromosomes that other cells have.
- Egg cells are female gametes.
- They are large and contain food stores in their cytoplasm.
- Sperm cells are male gametes.
- They are small and have a tail for swimming.
- Fertilization happens when the sperm cell nucleus fuses with the egg cell nucleus.
5.2 The human reproductive system
The male reproductive system
- Sperm cells - made in the testes / testis
- travel along the sperm duct, into the urethra.
- seminal vesicles and the prostate gland make a sugary fluid for the sperm cells to
swim in.
- The sugar helps to give the sperm cells energy to swim.
Female reproductive system
- Ovaries – make egg cells and produce hormones.
- Oviduct (Fallopian Tube) – a place where fertilization takes place. The zygote that is
formed by fertilization carries on travelling down the oviduct, until it gets to the uterus.
- Ovulation - In an adult woman, one egg cell leaves one of the ovaries approximately
each month called ovulation. The egg cell goes into the oviduct. Tiny hairlike structures
on the oviduct walls, called cilia, move the egg cell slowly along the oviduct.
- Uterus – a place where the zygote develops and grows into baby.
Questions
1 Name the part of the male reproductive system that has each of these functions:
A. makes sperm cells
B. carries sperm cells from where they are made, into the urethra
C. makes a sugary fluid for sperm cells to swim in.

2 Name the part of the female reproductive system that has each of these functions:
A. makes egg cells
B. where fertilization happens
C. where the zygote develops into a baby
Summary
- Sperm cells are made in the testes.
- They travel along the sperm duct into the urethra.
- Egg cells are made in the ovaries.
- They travel along the oviduct, where they may be fertilized.
- The zygote travels into the uterus, where it develops into a baby.