KS3 Puberty Teacher Notes
Introduction
This section covers several aspects of KS 3 Science and Personal, Social and Health Education. The intention is to provide online content and activities for pupils, along with additional teacher support in the form of suggestions and ideas for classroom work and downloadable activity sheets.
The pupil content provides information on the basic facts about the female and male changes during puberty. The content and structure of the unit has been designed to complement the National Curriculum for England and Wales and the DFES Schemes of Work.
This flexible approach enables teachers to direct pupils to key content relevant to their teaching approaches but also, introduce pupils to new topics and extending activities for both online and offline work.
Curriculum references
National Curriculum
KS3 Science SC2.2 Reproduction (f), (g), (h)
KS3 PSHE 2. (a), (e)
DFES Standards Schemes of Work
KS 3 Science Unit 7 b 'Reproduction'
Classroom Applications
Female changes
This section begins with a reminder of the Primary Sexual Characteristics of a female baby. The role of pituitary hormones from the brain and the hormones Oestrogen and Progesterone from the ovaries is described. The development of Secondary Sexual Characteristics is detailed to include OVULATION, MENSTRUATION and other classic body changes.
Learning outcomes
- Recognise that reproductive organs mature during puberty as a consequence of growth and circulating hormones.
- Describe the observable changes of puberty in females e.g. breasts, more body hair, different body shape.
Extension work
Measure the height of the children in the class. Tabulate and group the data to enable plotting of a class HISTOGRAM.
Learning outcomes
- Recognise that there is a wide variation in the development of children.
- Present data about height in an appropriate chart or graph.
Male changes
This section begins with a reminder of the Primary Sexual Characteristics of a male baby.
The role of the pituitary hormones from the brain and Testosterone from the testes is described.
The development of Secondary Sexual Characteristics is detailed to include SPERM PRODUCTION and other classic body changes.
Learning outcomes
- Recognise that reproductive organs mature during puberty as a consequence of growth and circulating hormones.
- Describe the observable changes of puberty in males e.g. voice 'breaks', more body and facial hair, different body shape.
Summary
A brief synopsis of the information covered.
The web game
A true/false game to consolidate the information covered and test student knowledge. If the facts have not been successfully processed, the student is guided back into the study topic.
Useful web links
The Government's guidelines on SRE are available at:
The Sex Education Forum of the National Children's Bureau is online at:
Lil-lets-talk.com is a web site from Lil-lets, offering advice and information about puberty, periods and other teenage changes.
Further information on contraception is available at:
Information on family planning is available from the fpa (formerly The Family Planning Association) which is a registered charity working to improve the sexual health and reproductive rights of all people throughout the UK. The site is available at:
For the latest information on HIV and STIs data in the UK visit the Public Health Laboratory Service site at:
The Department of Health information web site on sexual health is available at:
The National AIDS Trust (NAT) aims to promote a wider understanding of HIV and AIDS.
Downloads
Pupil Section Exe Files
These are versions of the pupil material for this topic that you can download and use offline. Simply save the .exe file to your desktop and double-click it.
Puberty
PDF files
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