FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

• • Ovaries: small organs on the ends of the Fallopian tubes responsible for the production and release of eggs (ova-pl)
  • Females are born with all of the eggs they will ever produce
  • Ovaries alternate the release of eggs each month
  • Like testes, the ovaries produce hormones - estrogen
  • The release of the ova is called ovulation
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  • Vagina: also called the birth canal, a tube leading from the uterus to the outside of the body (where sperm enters, it is acidic)
• Mitosis:

  • Type of cell division that occurs in non-reproductive cells
  • Produces exact copies of the parent cell
• Meiosis:

  • Cell division that occurs in reproductive cells (gametes)
  • Produces egg and sperm cells with half the genetic material of the parent cells
  • 23 chromosomes are contained in gametes so that when egg and sperm meet, they produce offspring with 46 chromosomes
• Oogenesis:

  • Process of formation of female gametes
  • Type of gametogenesis through which ova, also called the female gametes, are formed
  • The produced female gamete is known as an ovum
• • Cervix: the lower portion of the uterus where the vagina and uterus meet (dilates for the delivery of a baby)
• • Uterus: a hollow, fist-sized organ located between the bladder and rectum (where the zygote implants and the embryo develops)
• • Fallopian Tubes: also called oviducts, two tubes connecting the uterus with the ovaries (site of fertilization)
• What maintains the growth of the endometrium? Progesterone