Physical growth and Development (29 Sep 2017)

 

CTET 2017 Exam Study Notes: Stages of Development

Dear Readers,

Child Development and Pedagogy play an important role in securing your success in teaching exams like CTET 2017 Exam. Keeping in view the importance of Child Development and Pedagogy, today we are sharing a post on Physical Growth and Development. Read the article for your sure success in upcoming CTET 2017 Exam. 

Physical Growth and Development :

Physical growth starts when the union of sperm with ovum takes place. Generally, full growth of the human body completes at the adolescent stage. How this growth and development take place, is discussed in the following lines.
1. Physical Development in Prenatal Period:-The process of the child’s birth can be divided into the following three parts, for convenience -
(a) the period of the ovum,
(b) the period of the embryo, and
(c) the period of the foetus.

The child’s birth is the outcome of this complex process which occupies a period of 9 calendar months, or 10 lunar months or 280 days, although, in abnormal conditions, the minimum period can be a low as seven months and the maximum 334 days.
2. Physical Development During Infancy Period:- At the time of birth, the child’s weight is usually between 5 to 8 pounds, while its height is about 20 inches. Boys usually have half an inch of height more than girls at this time whereas girls are usually slightly heavier than boys. In six or seven months, the child begins to grow its temporary of’milk’ teeth, while the permanent teeth begin to appear to the age of 5 years. Similarly, the brain also growing rapidly and from a weight 350 gms. at birth, it becomes twice as much within two years while by the sixth year, it reaches the weight of 1260 gms.
3. Physical Development During Childhood:- By the age of 12, the increase in height takes place at a relatively faster pace. In childhood, girls generally have less height and weight than boys. At the age of 10, the brain weight 1/8* of the body weight, and from the viewpoint of weight, the brain attains its maturity by this time.
(i) Height- At the time of birth, a child has a height of approximately 20 inches, with boys being about half an inch taller than girls. In the 10 to 14 age group, girls undergo rapid physical development. Today it has become possible to forecast the maximum height a child is likely to attain by an x-ray study of the bones and the wrist of the child. As far as the increase in height is concerned, considerable difference and variation are found between the two sexes. At 12 year of age, girls often appear taller than boys, Boys attain their maximum height by the age of 21.
(ii) Weight- At birth, a child usually has a weight from three to eight pounds, and most children go through the equal increase in weight. By the end of the first year, the weight of a child’s body is twice its weight at birth, at the age of 5 years five times this initial weight.
(iii) Head- After birth, the head growth in a proportionate fashion. At birth, the head is 22% of the entire body in size.

For more CTET 2017 Study Notes on Child Development and Pedagogy , Click here  

(iv) Bones- At birth, the child has 270 bones, but when the individual becomes physically mature, he has 350 bones; later on, however, when the individual approaches complete maturity, the number of bones declines to 206. The infant’s bones have considerable flexibility, which enables him to suck even his big toe. This hardness is brought about by a hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.
(v) Teeth- Children are first endowed with temporary or ‘milk’ teeth; these are later replaced by the permanent teeth. The temporary teeth are 20 in number, whereas the permanent teeth are 32.
(vi) Internal organs- In childhood, the heart is between 120 to 140 beats per minute, but in adulthood, it decreases to 72 per minute.
4. Physical Development During Adolescence:- Adolescence is the most complex stage in the development of personality. In the adolescent period, the teeth, too, become permanent, and even in this aspect, the girls steal a march over the boys. Cattle made a study of 12000 adolescents in 1928 and concluded that the permanent teeth emerge earlier in the case of girls than in the case of boys. The most immediately noticeable change in adolescence is the appearance of hair on various parts of the body. Hair does not grow on the chest or chin of a girl, but in some exceptional cases, girls with mustaches and beards can be seen, which is actually the result of the malfunctioning of some ductless glands.

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Team Clear Ctet.

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