Video Transcript
During puberty, adolescents reach
sexual maturity. Which system in the body changes
during this time?
This question is asking about
puberty. Puberty describes all the physical
and hormonal changes that occur during adolescence, the stage in life when a child
develops into an adult. The question asks us to identify
the system in the body that changes during this time. Let’s first discuss some of the
changes that occur in males and females during puberty. This will help us to identify the
system which changes during this stage in life.
Some common changes that occur in
females include breasts developing. The hips grow wider. Females usually also start having
periods during puberty. In males, the voice deepens or
breaks. Males also begin to produce
sperm. Males also often start to grow
facial hair. Some changes occur in both males
and females, for example, the growth of pubic hair and armpit hair.
Now that we have summarized some of
the changes that occur during puberty, let’s have another look at our question. We are told that during puberty,
adolescents reach sexual maturity, but what does this mean? Reaching sexual maturity means that
males and females usually gain the capability to reproduce.
Many of the changes we have
described are linked to this reproductive maturity. For example, the beginning of
periods in females and the production of sperm in males can indicate that mature sex
cells are being produced. These sex cells are sperm cells in
males and egg cells in females. If reproduction is to occur, these
sex cells join during fertilization. And their resulting cell divides to
produce an embryo.
The system in the body that is
responsible for reproduction in both males and females is the reproductive
system. So, the system that changes during
puberty is reproductive.
