Concept preview

What you will be able to do

1. 01Name the main organs of the male reproductive system and state the function of each.
2. 02Name the main organs of the female reproductive system and state the function of each.
3. 03Explain how each structure supports gamete production, transport, or the support of pregnancy.
4. 04Compare the male and female systems and identify their shared developmental origin.

Of all the organ systems you have studied this year, the reproductive system is unique in one striking way: it is the only one an individual can live an entire, healthy life without. Your heart, lungs and kidneys keep you alive; the reproductive system exists to make the next generation possible. Its central task is to produce, protect and bring together the specialised sex cells called gametes — the sperm in the male and the egg (ovum) in the female — and, in the female, to shelter and nourish the new individual that results. Although the male and female systems look very different, they are built around the same three jobs: making gametes, transporting gametes, and (in the female) supporting a developing offspring. Keeping those three jobs in mind makes every organ that follows easy to place.