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An ovarian hormone that helps rebuild and maintain the uterus lining, inhibits FSH and, at a high level, stimulates LH release.

The main female reproductive hormone; it is produced by the ovaries and is involved in female secondary sex characteristics and the reproductive cycle.

Oestrogen contributes to changes such as breast development. These visible changes are only part of puberty: important changes also occur inside the reproductive system, allowing gametes—sperm or eggs—to be produced or matured.

Do not confuse gametes with hormones: sperm and eggs are cells, whereas testosterone and oestrogen are chemical messengers carried in the blood.

Avoid claiming that oestrogen directly triggers ovulation. It is involved in the reproductive cycle; luteinising hormone is the hormone that stimulates egg release.

When explaining hormonal control, use linked statements such as “FSH stimulates…”, “oestrogen inhibits…” and “LH triggers…”. Simply listing the four hormone functions does not explain their interactions.

A hormone produced mainly by the ovaries that helps to rebuild and thicken the uterus lining during the first part of the menstrual cycle.

If pregnancy has not occurred, concentrations of oestrogen and progesterone fall. The thickened uterus lining is no longer maintained, so it breaks down and leaves the body with blood through the vagina. This is menstruation, or a period, and it marks the start of a new cycle.

An ovarian hormone that repairs and thickens the uterus lining, inhibits FSH and stimulates LH release when its concentration becomes high.

A hormone produced mainly by the ovaries that helps rebuild the lining of the uterus and causes some changes at puberty.

Oestrogen, produced mainly by the ovaries, brings about changes such as breast development and also helps control the menstrual cycle. These hormones are not exclusive to one sex; it is their usual levels and main sites of production that differ.

A hormone released mainly by a developing ovarian follicle; it thickens the uterine lining, inhibits FSH and, at a high level, stimulates an LH surge.

A hormone produced by the ovaries that causes the uterus lining to thicken and helps control the release of FSH and LH.

FSH and LH come from the pituitary gland; oestrogen and progesterone are produced in the ovaries. What matters is not just what each hormone does, but how one hormone changes the release of another.

Oestrogen

Definition

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AQA GCSE Biology · 8461

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Edexcel GCSE Biology · 1BI0

OCR GCSE Biology A · J247

OCR GCSE Biology B · J257