Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms-offspring-are produced from their ‘parents’. Sexual reproduction is the type of reproduction that involves the fusion of male and female gametes to give rise to a new individual. We will learn about the male and female reproductive organs and how fertilization takes place in a woman’s body after an egg is formed. Further in the chapter, we will learn about the lifecycle of the frogs. At last, we will learn about asexual reproduction in Hydra and how reproduction takes place in single-celled organisms.

In this virtual tour activity, we will learn about the male reproductive system. Male gametes called sperms are produced in the testes. The massive coils called the epididymis carry the sperms to the vas deferens which is a long coil. From there, it goes to the ejaculatory duct where it gets mixed with nourishing fluids. From there it reaches the urethra and after the secretion from the Cowper’s gland, the formation of semen is completed.

Now we will learn about the female reproductive system. It contains a pair of ovaries, oviducts, and the uterus.  The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. It is an egg. Egg cells are produced in the ovary. After fertilization, the baby develops in the uterus.

Now we will learn about how fertilization takes place in humans. The sperm cells need to travel more and then one of them will fertilize the egg. If the sperm having an X chromosome fertilizes the ovum, the zygote develops into a female and if the sperm cell having a Y chromosome fertilizes the ovum, the zygote develops into a male. Hence the sex of the baby depends on the chromosomes inherited from the father.

After the formation of the zygote, it develops into an embryo. This process is called embryogenesis. After the initial stage of fertilization, the zygote divides repeatedly to give rise to an embryo. The embryo attaches to the wall of the uterus for further development. The stage of the embryo in which all the body parts are identifiable is called the fetus. It gets nutrition from the mother and eventually organs grow and the fetus develops into the baby. In other words, fertilization is followed by embryogenesis.

The life cycle of the frog involves three stages. After external fertilization in the frog, the fertilized eggs develop into tadpoles or larvae. The tadpoles develop into adult frogs. Humans are viviparous organisms while hen and frogs are oviparous organisms.

Now we will learn about asexual reproduction in hydra. They have the ability to give rise to new individual organisms by developing a bud. This type of asexual reproduction is called budding. A bud develops at one specific site and when fully mature, it detaches from the parent body and becomes a new individual.

Binary fission is a kind of asexual reproduction found in amoeba. Binary means “Splitting into two”.  We will learn about how binary fission takes place in single-celled organisms like an amoeba wherein a single parent cell reproduces two daughter cells by binary fission.