MODULE 1

GROWING UP
 MODULE OVERVIEW
FOUR SESSIONS:
 Session 1.1: APPRECIATING MY BODY
 Session 1.2: UNDERSTANDING MY FERTILITY
 Session 1.3: PREVENTING TEEN PREGNANCY
 Session 1.4: PREVENTING SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED
INFECTIONS (STIs)
PRE-TEST ACTIVITY
Opinion Poll
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Agree or disagree to the statements that will
be read by going to the appropriate corner of
the room.
2. If you express neutrality about the statement,
stay at the center of the room.
SESSION 1.1.
APPRECIATING MY BODY
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
1. Describe the physical changes of adolescence.
2. Show positive attitude towards bodily changes at puberty.
3. Acknowledge and respect differences in physical
appearance.
4. Recognize diversity in the rate of physical maturation and
development.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Body Mapping
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Draw on a large sheet of paper a female body
for female groups and male body for male
groups.
2. Discuss bodily changes you have begun to
experience and label the body parts where
changes happen.
 KEY MESSAGES
All the bodily changes you have indicated
on your body maps are part of puberty.
 WHAT IS
PUBERTY?
Some physical changes are
specific to boys and girls.
There also changes which
are the same for both.
 CHANGES IN BOYS
• Gaining extra weight
• Shoulders get wider
• Muscles start to get bigger and stronger
• Getting an ‘Adam’s apple’
• Penis gets longer and wider
 CHANGES IN BOYS
• Testes (or testicles) get larger
• Breasts look like they’re growing a little
• Hair also grows on the face, like a beard
• Getting erections and may have nocturnal
emissions or “wet dreams” while sleeping
 CHANGES IN GIRLS
• Bodies become curvier and hip bones widen
• Gaining extra weight, particularly on the hips, to
achieve a “womanly” shape.
• Muscles get bigger and stronger, but they do not
become as big as the boys’ muscles
 CHANGES IN GIRLS
• Breasts start to develop and become fuller
• Menstruation or period starts
 CHANGES IN BOTH
• Growing taller
• Changing body shape
• Feeling “moody”
• Getting hair on the arms and legs, under the arms and in
the pubic area (which starts out as fine hair then gets
thicker and darker as one gets older)
 CHANGES IN BOTH
• Sweating more
• Getting oilier skin and often some pimples
• Having sexual feelings
• Loss of baby fat
 KEY MESSAGES
1. At puberty, your bodies are changing. Understanding your
changing body will help you become comfortable with the
changes.
2. Adolescents undergo puberty at different paces or speed.
You have different body shapes, sizes, and appearances.
There is no “perfect” or “normal” body type.
 KEY MESSAGES
3. Because of genes, the kind of food you eat, the kind of physical
activities you engage in, and whether or not you have an illness,
your body will reach maturity at your own pace.
4. Physical maturity is different from emotional maturity. While
your bodies may be ready for parenthood, emotionally, you may
not be prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood.
5. Make puberty an exciting time for all of you.
CLOSING ACTIVITY
Pass the Rhythm
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Sit in a circle and recall the discussion on
puberty.
2. Complete the statement: “Puberty means…”.
You are not allowed to repeat what others
have said about puberty.
 INSTRUCTIONS
3. Establish a rhythm by tapping the thighs with
your two hands twice, then clapping the hands
twice as well of the next person on your right.
The next person performs the same actions
until the action is past on the last person in
the circle.
 END OF
SESSION 1.1.
SESSION 1.2.
UNDERSTANDING
MY FERTILITY
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
1. Identify sexual and reproductive organs and describe
their functions.
2. Discuss how puberty prepares the human body for
reproduction.
3. Identify fertile and infertile periods of males and females.
4. Show positive attitude towards their body, including
sexual and reproductive parts.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Label the Parts
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Familiarize yourselves with the sexual and
reproductive parts of females and males.
2. Form two all female groups and two all male
groups.
3. Label the parts and show functions of the
diagram.
 KEY MESSAGES
1. At puberty, you become fertile and
ready for reproduction.
2. For girls, fertility is the ability to
conceive or become pregnant and bear
children.
 KEY MESSAGES
3. Male fertility is the ability of males to
provide healthy sperm capable of starting a
healthy pregnancy.
4. You need to be aware of your fertility to
make you more responsible in expressing
your sexuality.
 KEY MESSAGES
5. A female is fertile only on certain days of
each menstrual cycle and these are only the
days when she can become pregnant.
6. What is Ovulation?
 KEY MESSAGES
5. What is Menstruation?
Menstruation is when females release fluid,
including blood, through their vagina. It happens
because the lining of uterus (called endometrium)
sheds and leaves the uterus passing through the
vagina.
 Menstrual Cycle
• The menstrual cycle
starts from the first
day of period and lasts
until the beginning of
the next period. Then
the cycle starts again.
• A period lasts for a few
days (3 to 7 days).
 Tracking your
Menstrual Cycle
• Each month, circle or
shade the days when
you are having your
menstruation to see a
regular pattern of your
menstruation over
time to easily predict
your next period.
 How are sperms
produced?
• Sperm is the male sex cell.
They appear to have a
head and a long tail.
• From the time boys had
their first release of
semen, called ejaculation,
they have become fertile
and able to father a child
for the rest of their life.
 Fertilization and
Pregnancy
• When a male’s sperm
unites with a female’s egg
or ovum, fertilization
takes place and pregnancy
may happen.
• The sex of the embryo is
determined by the male’s
sperm, not by the female’s
egg.
External Parts
and Functions
of the Female
Reproductive
System
Internal Parts
and Functions
of the Female
Reproductive
System
Internal Parts
and Functions
of the Female
Reproductive
System
(SIDE VIEW)
External Parts
and Functions
of the Male
Reproductive
System
Internal Parts
and Functions
of the Male
Reproductive
System
 KEY MESSAGES
1. At puberty, boys and girls become fertile.
2. Females have “fertile days” or certain days in their
menstrual cycle when they can become pregnant.
3. A male is fertile if he has the ability to provide
healthy sperm capable of starting pregnancy in a
female.
 KEY MESSAGES
4. Unlike females, males are fertile from the time of
his first ejaculation and through the rest of his life
for as long as he is healthy.
5. Fertility declines naturally with age for both
males and females, although this decline takes
place earlier in females.
 KEY MESSAGES
6. When a male’s sperm unites with a female’s egg
or ovum, fertilization takes place and pregnancy
may happen.
7. Most commonly, pregnancy occurs through sexual
intercourse between a male and a female.
 KEY MESSAGES
8. While pregnancy can happen due to sexual
maturation of adolescents, it is a choice that
needs to be made responsibly based on one’s
psychological, physical, emotional and financial
preparedness.
 CLOSING ACTIVITY
Fill in the Blanks and Pass the Ball
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Stand in a circle.
2. Music will be played and the “cabbage ball”
will be passed around the participants.
3. When music stops, the “cabbage ball” stays
with the person who last touched it.
 INSTRUCTIONS
4. The person who holds the “cabbage ball”
removes the first layer of paper, reads the
statement written on it, and fills in the
blank(s) with correct answer(s).
5. Repeat the process until the last paper of the
“cabbage ball” is opened.
 END OF
SESSION 1.2.
SESSION 1.3.
PREVENTING TEEN
PREGNANCY
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
1. Explain the health and social risks of early
pregnancy to mother and baby.
2. Identify common complications of
pregnancy in adolescent mothers.
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
3. Describe how pregnancy can be prevented.
4. Recognize sexual abstinence and use of
contraceptive or family planning as
effective protection against pregnancy.
OPENING ACTIVITY
(Option 1) Wordscapes
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Form words out of the word TEEN
PREGNANCY.
2. You have 3 minutes to form as many
words as you can. The group that has the
highest number of words shall win.
 OPENING ACTIVITY
(Option 2) The Fish Bone
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Think of the direct causes of teen pregnancy
and post them in the back bone of the fish.
2. For each of the direct cause, identify the
underlying cause. Post these on the bones
attached to the backbone of the fish.
 KEY MESSAGES
1. Early pregnancy among adolescents is
caused by complex and interrelated
factors. Some of the factors identified
by literature include the following:
 Individual Efforts Household Efforts Institutional Efforts

• Demographic Factors • Demographic Factors • Demographic Factors

• Age & Sex • Family size • Population size
• Birth order • Civil status • Population composition
• Marital status • Pyscho-social factors • Population distribution
• Location • Parental guidance • Peers and social circle
• KAP on sexuality and ARH • Peer influence
• Pyscho-social factors
• Parental values/principles • Normative group behaviors
• Gender-identity
• Access to media • Local governance
Teenage • Self-esteem/self-acceptance
• Socio-economic factors • policy and program
Pregnancy • Social competence
• Income environment (availability of
• Access and exposure to
• Educational status services)
media/ICT
• Health and nutrition • School, church, and other
• Socio-economic factors organizations and
• Income • Employment
institutions
• Educational status • Local governance
• Health and nutrition • Media
• Employment • Socio-economic factors
 KEY MESSAGES
• Social norms and peer pressure influence
sexual behaviors among adolescents.
• Too early pregnancy puts the young mother
and her baby at risk of health complications
and even death.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Pregnant adolescents are exposed to health risks
such as obstructed labor or difficult delivery,
obstetric fistula, unsafe abortion, and pressure
to mental health especially when they fail to
access timely and appropriate maternal health
care:
 KEY MESSAGES
• Babies of adolescent mothers or teen moms are
also exposed to medical complications such as low
birth weight, a higher risk of being born
premature, and a higher risk of dying before
delivery.
D Dropping-out of school
I Incapacity
S Social stigma
R Repeat pregnancy
U Unemployment or underemployment
P Poverty
T Taking illegal drugs or substance abuse
E Emotional instability or crisis
D Dependence to family and government on basic needs
 KEY MESSAGES
• Effects of early pregnancy to father:
– Inability to cope with the demands of fatherhood
– Isolation from friends
– Inability to relate with equally young and inexperienced
wife
– Opposition or inadequate support from their family
 KEY MESSAGES
• To prevent early and unwanted pregnancy, abstain from or
delay the debut of your sexual relations.
– Adolescents need proper information about their
sexuality so they can be effectively guided in making
responsible decisions.
– Correct and consistent use of contraception can prevent
pregnancy.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Mutual consent is a requirement before any sexual activity
with a partner.
– Coercion can also make one think she/he owes sex to
someone (for fear of being abandoned).
– Sexual coercion and harassment are violations of human
rights that need to be reported to authorities.
 KEY MESSAGES
• There are medically and legally safe and acceptable
methods of contraception or family planning that can
prevent adolescents from getting pregnant and STIs.
– Different methods of contraception have different
mechanism of action, effectiveness rate, benefit or
advantages, and side-effects.
 BARRIER METHODS
CONDOM
• Offer the greatest protection
against infection.
• Only contraceptive method
that protects partners from
sexually transmitted
infections including HIV.
 HORMONAL METHODS
PILLS, INJECTABLES, AND
SUBDERMAL IMPLANTS
• Regulate and stop ovulation
and prevent pregnancy.
• Do not protect against STIs.
• Offers greater protection
when used with condoms.
 PERMANENT METHODS
BILATERAL TUBAL
LIGATION, VASECTOMY,
AND INTRAUTERINE
DEVICE
• Permanent protection
against pregnancy.
• No protection against STI
and HIV.
 FERTILITY AWARENESS BASED METHODS
• Determining the fertile and infertile periods of
females within the menstrual cycle
• Not effective for younger adolescent girls because
of irregular cycles
• Does not protect against STIs including HIV.
 FAMILY PLANNING METHODS
Fertility Awareness Based (FAB) Methods involve
techniques of becoming aware of a woman’s fertile
and infertile days within a menstrual cycle based on
two naturally occurring fertility signs - changes in
cervical mucus and changes in basal body
temperature.
Types:
Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) entails daily observation of
cervical secretions whose amount, color, consistency,
slipperiness and viscosity change during fertile and infertile
days.
Basal Body Temperature (BBT) involves determining a
woman’s resting body temperature (body temperature after
three hours of continuous sleep), which is lower before
ovulation and rises around the time of ovulation.
Symptothermal Methods (STM) combines BOM and BBT
together with other signs such as breast engorgement and
unilateral abdominal pain.
Standard Days Method (SDM) is based on calculated fertile
and infertile periods for menstrual cycles that range from 28 to
32 days; couples on this method use a device, the color-coded
“cycle beads” to mark the fertile and infertile days of the
menstrual cycle.
Two-Day Method involves observing daily the cervical
secretions; if there is secretion yesterday or today, a woman
should consider herself fertile and should avoid sexual
intercourse today.
Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is the use of
breastfeeding (exclusive) as temporary method of preventing
pregnancy; exclusive breastfeeding temporarily prevents the
release of the hormone that causes ovulation.
CLOSING ACTIVITY
Role Playing
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Create a short skit where you will use your
poster to inform adolescents in your school
about the health risks and social cost of early
and unwanted pregnancy.
2. You have 10 minutes to plan for your skit.
 END OF
SESSION 1.3.
 SESSION 1.4.
PREVENTING SEXUALLY
TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS (STIs)
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
1. Explain STIs, including HIV, and how they
are and they are not transmitted.
2. Discuss ways to prevent transmission of
STIs and HIV.
 SESSION OBJECTIVES
3. Recognize sexual abstinence and correct and
consistent use of condom as effective
protection against STIs including HIV.
4. Discuss where and how to access local STI and
HIV testing and treatment services.
 OPENING ACTIVITY
Primetime (Role Playing)
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Create a five minute talk show discussing
the topic assigned.
2. Be as thorough as possible. Include
information about testing, treatment, and
prevention.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections spread
through sexual activity. They are preventable.
– There are many kinds of sexually transmitted infections
(STIs). Among the STIs that can have serious
consequences are: HIV (the virus that causes AIDS),
syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomonas, and herpes.
 KEY MESSAGES
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a
syndrome caused by a virus called HIV (human
immunodeficiency virus). The disease alters the
immune system, making people much more vulnerable
to infections and diseases. This susceptibility worsens if
the syndrome progresses.
 KEY MESSAGES
• HIV is found throughout all the tissues of the body
but is transmitted through the body fluids of an
infected person (semen, vaginal fluids, blood, and
breast milk).
• HIV can be transmitted through sexual
transmission, perinatal transmission, and blood
transmission.
 KEY MESSAGES
• The surest way to avoid getting or transmitting an STI
is not to have sex.
• Every person has the right to protect himself or
herself against STIs.
• Some but not all STIs are curable.
A Ayoko Muna! (Abstinence)

B Basta tayong dalawa lang! (Be faithful!)

C Condom ay laging gamitin! (Condom use)

Check-up ay ugaliin! (Seek check-up, testing and timely
C treatment)

D Drugs ay iwasan! (Drug prevention)

Edukasyon ay kailangan (Educate self and others about
E STI, HIV/AIDS prevention)
 KEY MESSAGES
• Some people do not use protection because they lack
information, skills, or basic access to services.
• With some people, engagement in sex is spontaneous,
thus, they do not have time to access condom.
• Some people do not use protection because they are
in circumstances of unequal social power.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Within marriage, women and girls are often obligated
to have sex or to have a child, even if they feel that it
is not safe.
• Both men and women who are paid to have sex may
be paid extra — or coerced — to have sex without
condoms.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Initiating a discussion about sex or sexual health may
be considered inappropriate or taboo for women and
girls.
• Some people feel that asking a partner to use condom
may provoke suspicion of sexual infidelity and may
trigger conflict, anger, or violence.
 KEY MESSAGES
• Sex that is forced (in addition to being an act of
violence) often takes place without condoms; hence,
it is more likely to carry a risk of HIV and other STIs.
• All people have a right to know their own HIV status
and to obtain confidential testing and counseling
services. People also have a right not to be tested.
CLOSING ACTIVITY
Wildfire
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Take a slip of paper from the box and do not open until
you are instructed to do so.
2. Everyone will walk around the room and say hello to
each other.
3. When you hear me clap my hands, stop and shake hands
with the person near you and remember that person’s
name.
 INSTRUCTIONS
4. When you hear me shout “move,” walk
around again and say hello to each other.
5. This will be done in three rounds.
6. After the third round, open the slip of
paper and find out what is written on it.
 INSTRUCTIONS
4. Those whose paper contains a “+,” please come
forward and form a line.
5. Those who shook hands with these people, please
form a second line.
6. Those who shook hands with the second group,
please form a third line.
 INSTRUCTIONS
• Handshake represents sexual intercourse.
• The “+” on your paper means you are HIV-positive or you
have HIV infection.
• The “c” on your paper means that you wear condom.
• A blank paper means you have no protection against HIV and
you may have “shook hands” with somebody with a “+” or
with somebody who shook hands with a “+.”
 END OF
SESSION 1.4.
POST-TEST ACTIVITY
Opinion Poll
 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Agree or disagree to the statements that will
be read by going to the appropriate corner of
the room.
2. If you express neutrality about the statement,
stay at the center of the room.