The menstrual cycle

LO’s:

•Know what happens during the menstrual cycle.

Unscramble the following words:

TRUEUS FLEAME INITIALFOREST

OVALINOUT IPEDRO RENTASLUM

Uterus, Female, Fertilisation, Ovulation, Period, Menstrual

The menstrual cycle

• Starts when girls are about 12 years old, but can be anytime between 8 and 16.

• Cycle lasts about 28 days.

• In young girls just reaching puberty, it may be irregular but as they grow older it usually settles down.

Days 1-5

• The uterus wall breaks down and comes out the vagina.

• It contains lots of blood.

• It can be accompanied by pain in the stomach.

• This is called the PERIOD or MENSTRUATION

Day 5 – 14

• The blood loss from the vagina stops.

• The uterus wall builds up again.

• The ovary gets an egg cell ready to be released.

Day 14

• The uterus lining is at its thickest again.

• The egg cell is released by the ovary.

• It travels down the egg tube towards the uterus.

• We call this OVULATION.

Day 14 - 28

• The uterus lining remains thick so it is ready if a fertilised egg arrives.

• If an unfertilised egg arrives, it passes through the uterus and out the body through the vagina.

• The uterus lining starts to break down and the cycle repeats.

What date will the period stop if it started on the…

e.g.) 5th March, period stops on 10th March.

a) 1st May

b) 20th June

c) 18th January

d) 27th August

e) 11th December

30 days in April, June, September, November.

31 days in January, March, May, July, August, October, December.

28 days in February.

What date will ovulation occur if the period starts on the…

e.g.) 11th May, ovulation on the 25th May.

a) 3rd May

b) 27th June

c) 28th January

d) 9th August

e) 29th December

30 days in April, June, September, November.

31 days in January, March, May, July, August, October, December.

28 days in February.

What date will the next period start if the current one started on the…

e.g.) 2rd March, next period starts 30th March.

a) 1st May

b) 27th June

c) 18th January

d) 5th August

e) 11th December

30 days in April, June, September, November.

31 days in January, March, May, July, August, October, December.

28 days in February.

Dear problem page…

• I will give you a short letter written to a young person’s problem page.

• Work in groups of 4.

• Write a short reply to the letter. It should be about 4 or 5 sentences long.

• Be ready to read out your reply to the rest of the class.