Male Reproductive System

• Scrotum is a sac-like pouch located behind the penis that holds each testes and helps regulate temperature for sperm production.
• The two testes are small organs that lie in the scrotum and produce sperm and the male hormone testosterone. 
• The testicles are outside the body because the male sperm that is manufactured in the testes need cooler-than-body temperature for normal growth and development. 
• Four to five billion sperm cells are produced each month. 
• Testosterone is the male reproductive hormone made by the testicles which causes the changes of puberty.
• Testosterone causes secondary sex characteristics, production of sperm and  sexual urge. 
• Sperm the microscopic cells produced by the male's testicles which can fertilize the female's ovum. 
• Sperm cells are tiny, living cells 100 times smaller than a pencil dot. (the smallest cell in a mans body )
• Sperm can survive in a women’s body for 5-8 days.
• Epididymis is the structure that forms a mass over the back and upper part of each testes.
• Sperm are stored in the epididymis for as long as six weeks while they ripen to maturity. 
• Cowpers Glands are two small pea-sized glands located beneath the prostate gland on both sides of the base of the penis. 
• Cowpers Glands secrete a clear, sticky fluid that helps to neutralize the acidity of the urethra.
• Vas Deferens are two long, thin tubes that serve as a passageway for sperm and a place for sperm storage.
• Seminal Vesicles are two small glands that secrete a fluid that nourishes and enables the sperm to move.
• Prostate Gland surrounds the urethra beneath the bladder.  The gland secretes an alkaline fluid that neutralizes the acid found in the male urethra and the female reproductive tract. 
• Urethra is a dual purpose tube that both semen and urine pass through to leave the body. 
• Special muscles or sphincters surround the urethra. 
• Penis is the male organ for sexual intercourse, reproduction, and urination. 
• The reproductive purpose of the penis is to deposit semen in the vagina during sexual intercourse. 
• The head of the penis or glans contains many nerve endings.  At birth the glans is covered by a loosely fitting skin called the foreskin.
• When the penis is erect it is 5-7 inches long An erection occurs when the sponge-like chambers in the penis fill with blood. 
• SEMEN is an combination of fluid that is produced in the seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and Cowper's gland.  This fluid nourishes and helps sperm move through the urethra.
• EJACULATION is the passage of sperm from the penis, a result of a series of muscular contractions.
• Around ages 11-14, secondary sex characteristics appear
• Around ages 13-16, sperm produced in adult amounts (puberty)
• Around late teens, peak sexual urges
• In the testis are clusters of hundreds of compartments with many tiny coiled tubes called seminiferous tubules