Developmental biology

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/developmental-biology

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the interdisciplinary connections?Integrates principles from genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, evolutionary biology, and biophysics
2. What is the clinical relevance?Essential for understanding congenital anomalies, cancer development, and advancing regenerative medicine
3. How does a single cell become a whole animal or plant?The zygote divides many times, and cells decide what to become by following genetic instructions and signals from nearby cells.
4. What are some signals that tell cells what to do?Cells use special signals like Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog to turn genes on or off, guiding them to become specific tissues.

Gastrulation: A fundamental process where the single-layered blastula reorganizes into a trilaminar, three-layered structure (ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm).
Stem Cells: Undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various cell types and proliferate indefinitely.
Epigenetics: Heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations to the underlying DNA sequence, influencing development.