This lesson provides a brief overview of sexual and reproductive anatomy, and explains how to complete self exams of breasts and testicles. It reviews the basics of reproduction, and introduces the many ways of becoming parents. The final activity asks students to consider the many responsibilities of becoming a parent.

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 second lesson enables students to apply what they know about human reproduction via PIV sex (Lesson 1 of this series) to other means of reproduction. They will not only learn the steps in how insemination and IVF work to create a pregnancy, but they will also learn that people other than parents can provide the genetic material (eggs, sperm, and embryos) and give birth to a child for someone else (surrogates). Students will be working in small groups to help one another understand the concepts and to practice using the inclusive language that the educator modeled in the first lesson.

 Students will learn about what constitutes various aspects of identity, including gender identity, sexual orientation, and explore how experiences of identity can shift across different cultures. We will discuss why acknowledging gender diversity is important, ways to respect each other, and more. 

Coursework examines important issues facing the youth of today and discusses sexual assault, sexual violence, sex trafficking, and the importance of advocating for self and for others. The coursework is inclusive to all genders/races/ethnicities/abilities and makes the point that sexual violence does not discriminate. This is meant to be an open, discussion-based seminar to ask important questions and learn about safety for yourself and others from sexual violence. Learn about your resources and your rights as an individual to help serve yourself and your community. Students will complete a community project that contributes to student volunteer hours. This is meant to help them immerse into the content they learn within the scope of this course, as well as foster empathy and civic engagement within students to become passionate and upstanding individuals for their communities.

This lesson seeks to engage in discussions about relationships, emotional, and physical relatedness, and whether biological connections are the only connections that make a family. Understanding how society has traditionally defined family may not be the way we define it – and that’s okay. In this lesson, participants will expand their knowledge of a more involved family tree. When it comes to describing family/kinship, does a biological connection hold more weight, or do emotional connections that develop over time hold equal importance? Understanding relationships, values, and what resonates as important is helpful in practicing and engaging critical thinking skills.