Sperm

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/sperm

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 Sperm known for?Haploid set of chromosomes (23 in humans)
2. What is the scientific classification?Spermatozoon (plural: spermatozoa), a gamete
3. What is the production site?Seminiferous tubules within the testes
4. How many sperm are made each day?Each day, a man's body makes billions of sperm, all different from one another. They are ready to travel to meet an egg.
5. Why do sperm need to swim?Sperm swim so they can travel from the man's body into the woman's body, through the vagina, cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes, to reach the egg.

Spermiogenesis: The final stage of spermatogenesis where spermatids differentiate into spermatozoa.
Capacitation: Physiological changes in sperm that enable them to fertilize an egg.
Zona Pellucida: The glycoprotein layer surrounding the ovum that sperm must penetrate.