Early Embryonic Development Role-Playing in a Large Introductory Biology Lecture

Abstract

Animal development in introductory biology texts is generally described as a series of four coordinated and controlled phases of cell growth and movement: Body Axis, Segmentation, Segment Structures/Characteristics and, finally, Differentiation. In an ongoing effort to reform my teaching practices and place my introductory biology lectures within the context of student’s lives, I began teaching the development chapter as one possible outcome of the transcription and translational processes. During this process, I realized that students were having difficulty visualizing what was happening during early embryonic development. This activity was created to expose students to early embryonic development by making them move and change in a manner similar to what a cell in the embryo might undergo.