Speedy sperm

Short description

Brazilian scientists discovered that coffee makes sperm swim faster, and speculated that caffeine could be used in new infertility treatments. Other research showed that the sperm of cannabis smokers and overweight men is often of poor quality.

In this activity pupils draw cartoons to show the results of this research. They also plan an experiment to confirm that caffeine does make sperm swim faster.

Learning objective

• Understand the process of fertilisation in human reproduction

Blueprint curriculum link

• Unit: Reproduction
• Concept: Sexual & asexual: Reproduction involves mixing genetic material from two parents, or copying cells from one parent
• Skill: Variables: Choose variables to answer a scientific question
• Learning stage: Analyse

Activity contents

• Teachers guide
• PDF file

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