IP Biology Notes: Reproduction (Upper Sec 13)

For Integrated Programme students: Your current school materials, teacher instructions, and assessment scope take precedence because IP topic sequence and depth vary by school. This is an Eclat IP guide, not the O-Level / SEC G3 exam-track guide.

How this chapter applies

• Eclat core: asexual and sexual reproduction, mitosis, meiosis, flowering-plant reproduction, human reproductive systems, the menstrual cycle, development, placenta exchange, and HIV transmission form the main route.
• School-sensitive extension: crossing over, independent assortment, LH and FSH control, detailed embryology, and reproductive biotechnology should be used only where the current school teaches them.
• 2027 national comparison: K325 Topic B13 covers the full common route but limits menstrual-cycle hormone effects to oestrogen and progesterone. It explicitly includes the urethra, penis, amniotic sac, and amniotic fluid.
• Check your school: meiosis depth, hormone diagrams, reproductive-health framing, and practical flower work can differ. Follow the current school sequence and safeguarding guidance.
• Exam-track route: use the separate O-Level and SEC G3 Biology notes for K325 topic ownership.

The core idea is simple: Reproduction questions compare how new individuals are made.

Use it as a working check: Asexual reproduction uses mitosis and makes clones. Sexual reproduction uses meiosis, gametes, fertilisation, and variation.

Then go one layer deeper: Example: pollination is pollen transfer to the stigma. Fertilisation is fusion of nuclei inside the ovule, so use the terms separately.

What you must know

• Asexual reproduction produces genetically identical offspring; mitosis makes 2 identical diploid cells for growth/repair/asexual reproduction.
• Sexual reproduction uses meiosis to form haploid gametes (halves chromosome number); fusion restores diploid zygote; leads to variation (independent assortment/crossing over conceptually).
• Plants: flower parts (stamen, carpel, petals, sepals); insect vs wind-pollinated features (petals, scent, pollen grain traits); pollination vs fertilisation; pollen tube growth to ovule.
• Humans: male system (testes, scrotum, sperm ducts, prostate gland, urethra, penis) and female system (ovaries, oviducts, uterus, cervix, vagina); menstrual cycle effects of oestrogen and progesterone; fertilisation in the oviduct; implantation in the uterus; placenta and umbilical cord exchange; amniotic sac encloses the foetus and retains protective amniotic fluid.
• STDs: HIV transmission (blood, sexual fluids, mother-to-child), reduces immunity; prevention via condoms, screened blood, no shared needles.

Reviewed by

Ezekiel Tan·Academic Advisor (Biology)