Oogenesis

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/oogenesis

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the process initiation?Begins during fetal development (embryonic stage)
2. What is the meiotic arrest?Primary oocytes arrest in prophase I (dictyate arrest) until puberty
3. Why do eggs stay paused for so long?The eggs pause in a stage called dictyate arrest, protected by signals from surrounding cells. This pause can last many years until the body is ready to release an egg.
4. How does a hormone signal make the egg ready to leave the ovary?A hormone surge called LH tells the egg to finish its first division and then to leave the follicle in a process called ovulation.

Oogonia: Immature female germ cells that undergo mitosis to form primary oocytes.
Primary Oocyte: A diploid cell arrested in prophase I of meiosis, present from fetal development.
Secondary Oocyte: A haploid cell produced after meiosis I, arrested in metaphase II of meiosis.
Polar Body: Small, non-functional cells produced during oogenesis, containing minimal cytoplasm.