Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples worldwide. But in the last 40 years, more than 5 million babies have been born using in vitro fertilization (IVF). How does it work? Nassim Assefi and Brian A. Levine detail the science behind making a baby in a lab.

In this lesson, students will research how famous families came to be. They’ll work with their peers to uncover details about fertilization, gestation, and birth, as well as other aspects of the famous family’s story. Students will then demonstrate (orally or written) their understanding of the concepts from the past two lessons. They will also reflect on the role celebrities play in shaping our thoughts, feelings and behaviors around reproduction and families.

This lesson explains reproduction to students using a PowerPoint presentation and includes a teacher’s resource with sample definitions and language that can be used. Students then receive cards and try to arrange themselves in the correct order of a 28-day menstrual cycle showing where sperm would need to be present in order for a pregnancy to occur as well as how methods of contraception can prevent pregnancy. The homework is watching a short video about pregnancy myths and answering questions on a worksheet.

The Sex Ed Open Learning Project User Guide provides background information and tips for navigating the collection.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a severe complication of in vitro fertilization (IVF) featuring massive ovary enlargement and ascites. OHSS involves upregulation of TGF-β1, which has been reported to regulate the expression of the matrix-modulating glycoprotein SPARC. However, it’s unclear whether TGF-β1 regulates SPARC in the ovaries and whether SPARC participates in OHSS pathogenesis. To find out, researchers recently examined the roles of TGF-β1 and SPARC in the KGN cell line, and in primary cultured human granulosa-lutein (hGL) cells from patients undergoing IVF. They found that TGF-β1 treatment upregulated SPARC and induced the expression of the OHSS markers VEGF and aromatase in both cell types. The SPARC upregulation was mediated by SMAD3 and required Slug, whose expression was also induced by TGF-β1. Knockdown of SPARC decreased Slug expression and attenuated the TGF-β1-induced increases in OHSS markers, as well as reducing TGF-β1 signaling by downregulating SMAD4..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students discuss several human reproductive technologies available today pregnancy ultrasound, amniocentesis, in-vitro fertilization and labor anesthetics. They learn how each technology works, and that these are ways engineers have worked to improve the health of expecting mothers and babies.