Changes in the teen years
The body changes in new ways.
A new set of changes
In the early teenage years the body does more than just get bigger. New features appear.
Do these changes happen to everyone on the same day?
What this lesson covers
The idea
In early teenage years new hair growth and oily skin appear in both sexes, breasts grow and menstruation begins in girls, and facial hair grows and the voice cracks in boys; these gradual, person-to-person varying changes are sexual maturation.
A new set of changes
In the early teenage years the body does more than just get bigger. New features appear.
Do these changes happen to everyone on the same day?
- No, they come slowly and differ from person to person
- Yes, all on the same day
- Yes, at exactly the same age for everyone
Who has which change
Drag each change to the right group.
Slow changes that differ
Some changes are common to both. Others are different in girls and in boys. They come slowly, over months and years, and not all together. Just as noses and fingers differ in shape, these changes differ from person to person. Together they are the sexual maturation of the body.
In early teenage years, new hair growth and oily skin appear in both sexes, breasts grow and menstruation begins in girls, and facial hair grows and the voice cracks in boys. These gradual changes vary from person to person and are sexual maturation.
Notes
New hair growth and oily skin in both sexes, breast growth and menstruation in girls, facial hair and a cracking voice in boys: gradual changes that vary between people are sexual maturation.
Check yourself
Which change is seen in both girls and boys?
Which change is seen in girls only, according to the book?
How do these changes of sexual maturation happen?
- Breast size begins to increase. The book lists this change for girls.
- New thick hair in new parts of the body, such as the armpits — correct. Yes!
- The voice begins to crack. The book lists this change for boys.
- New thick hair on the face. The book lists new thick hair on the face among the changes in boys.
- Oily skin. The book says oily skin and pimples occur in both boys and girls.
- Menstruation begins — correct. Yes!
- Slowly, over months and years, and they differ from person to person — correct. Yes!
- All at once, at an exact age. The book says they do not happen all at the same time in one person, nor at an exact age.
- Quickly, in the same way in everyone. The book says they differ between people, just as noses and fingers have different shapes.