Clue 1: Orient yourself
Which pieces can touch because their edges face one another?
Use the labels and the picture's left-to-right, near-to-far, or before-and-after order. Name only what you can point to.
The question
Which pieces can touch because their edges face one another?
Why it matters: The face forms through a timed sequence of growth, movement, and joining. Locating the missed step helps researchers ask a testable question instead of treating every cleft as the same process. Today you practice the professional reasoning behind that work: The face forms when named tissue prominences grow into position and join specific neighbors.
On your WebXam
Naming the two prominences whose failed fusion produces a unilateral cleft lip
For life
Having a gene is not the same as using it.
Principle: Having it is not using it
Five principles we return to
Having it is not using it
Same instructions, different switches
Same look, different cause
Change one thing and watch
Boss or doorman?
Decides the result or only allows it
Held down, not gone
Remove the brake and it returns
Many roads, one ending
One result can begin many ways
Try the everyday version first
Five puzzle pieces with only certain neighbors
A shaped puzzle piece can connect only where its edges and position fit. The finished picture depends on each piece meeting the correct neighbor.
Do not jump to the biology yet. Treat the picture as a small system. Track its parts, follow one change at a time, and keep more than one explanation open until the picture supplies a way to separate them.
Clue 2: Trace one change
Which piece contributes to the center of the final picture?
Follow one object, stage, or path. Point to the first place where the situation changes instead of jumping to the ending.
Clue 3: Keep the cause open
How could the final gap reveal which meeting failed?
List more than one explanation that still fits. Name the extra observation that would help you separate those possibilities.
Now inspect the illustration
Work from the visible evidence. A useful answer names the part of the picture that supports it and leaves unknown causes open.
- 1Which pieces can touch because their edges face one another?
- 2Which piece contributes to the center of the final picture?
- 3How could the final gap reveal which meeting failed?
Tier 1 check
Finish with the everyday model
Use the everyday picture to answer today's question in plain words: Which pieces can touch because their edges face one another?
You can complete today's required check without opening the technical details below.
Ready for the real names? Optional tier 2
Technical rules and limits
Rule 1: Position limits which parts can meet.
Rule 2: Each part contributes specific final structures.
Rule 3: A gap can identify a failed neighbor relationship.
Where the analogy stops: Facial tissues grow and change shape, unlike rigid puzzle pieces.
Carry the previous idea forward
The lip and palate form in short, ordered windows, so timing narrows where a developmental change began.
Today's technical takeaway
The face forms when named tissue prominences grow into position and join specific neighbors.
Now map the same rules onto biology
Map the five prominences to the upper lip
Center puzzle piece
Frontonasal prominence and medial nasal regions
Side pieces
Paired maxillary prominences
Finished seam
Upper lip and primary palate junctions
Educational illustration, not a clinical photograph. Use the labels and evidence cards to make the biological claim.
Mateo's case file: evidence supplied in this lesson
DEV02-E1
One frontonasal, two maxillary, and two mandibular prominences surround the early mouth.
Why it matters: The five prominences are the starting blocks of the face.
DEV02-E2
The maxillary prominence must meet the medial nasal region to build the upper lip.
Why it matters: A failed meeting at this boundary can produce cleft lip.
DEV02-E3
The mandibular prominences mainly form lower-face structures.
Why it matters: They are not the direct lip-fusion boundary in Mateo's cleft.
Make the clinical decision
You are labeling a surgical teaching model for the cleft team.
Only three labels can be placed on the model before the family teaching visit.
ALabel the maxillary and medial nasal meeting as the key upper-lip boundary.
BLabel the mandibular midline as Mateo's upper-lip failure.
CLabel every prominence as making the same structure.
Choose the useful label set and defend it with two evidence cards.
Evidence required
DEV02-E1 + DEV02-E2 Claim ceiling
You may name the tissue boundary involved in lip formation. You may not name the molecular cause yet.Go deeper Optional tier 3
Everything required for today is above. Open these only if you want the explainer, source trail, or download files.
The everyday model and Tier 1 check are the complete required path for this lesson.
Use these checks to keep your place. They are not turned in through the portal.
Check off as you finish
- Worked through the everyday picture and answered its three questions.
- Completed the Tier 1 check in plain words.
Turn in: Developmental lesson 2: Which Building Blocks Must Fuse to Make a Lip and Palate?
Go to Schoology to turn this in.
Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.
Open Schoology PDF upload helpIf you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Optional legacy technical materials Open only if you want the original notes, vocabulary, artifact, and CER work
Before this page, you should know
- Human runs mostly from week 4 to week 12 of the .
- Many face structures are made by separate blocks of that grow toward each other and then fuse, and a is a that did not happen on time.
If not, review
Today's new idea is only
The early face is built from five prominences, and the upper lip closes only when the and the meet and join on each side.
Goal: Name and locate the five facial prominences and explain which prominences must grow toward each other and fuse to build a normal upper lip.
Know by the end
- Five prominences surround the early mouth (the ): one , a paired , and a paired .
- Nasal pits split the into the inner medial nasal processes and the outer lateral nasal processes.
- The upper lip closes when, on each side, the fuses with the .
- The medial nasal processes also seed the front of the , which is why lip and cleft palate often travel together.
1
The five blocks
Model start: The early face is built from five facial prominences surrounding the : one , a paired , and a paired .
- Nasal pits split the into the inner ____ nasal processes and the outer ____ nasal processes.
- The two medial nasal processes merge to form the central block that becomes the and the front of the ____.
2
How the lip closes
- The upper lip closes when, on each side, the ____ process fuses with the .
- If that fails on one side, the result is a ____ (one-sided) lip on that side.
3
Why lip and palate travel together
- Because the medial nasal processes also seed the front of the ____, a lip-front failure can extend backward into the .
- Identifying which failed tells the team where to look, but not yet ____ it failed.
Everything you need for today is on this page. These links are optional.
What to read
Read the short plain-language explanation written for this lesson. Plain-language explainer for this lesson
Why this source matters
This explanation gives you the background for today's idea without making you decode a research paper: The early face is built from five prominences, and the upper lip closes only when the and the meet and join on each side.
Words to unlock first
Reading moves
- Skim the title and abstract first to get the gist.
- Circle the one sentence that states the main claim.
- Box the evidence the authors give for that claim.
- Mark one sentence that confuses you, and move on.
Stop point
Stop after the final 'Use it now' section. The research citations are available separately for advanced readers.
Your output
Write one claim-evidence sentence: state the main idea, then name the example or evidence that supports it.
Where this fits
Tested on (Ohio WebXam)
Genetics of Disease · 072130
PLTW lesson
MI · Developmental domain · Embryonic facial structures and the fusions that build the upper lip
WebXam domain
Molecular and Genetic Technology
Evidence to produce
On a simple labeled diagram of the five prominences, (1) label all five blocks, (2) draw an arrow showing the fusion that closes the upper lip on each side, and (3) on the LEFT side only, mark an X where the fusion failed for Mateo, with a one-line caption naming the two blocks that did not join.
Lab / skill
Principles of Biomedical Science (PBS) · Human Body Systems (HBS)
Everything required for today's decision is already in the case file and plain-language explainer. The links below are original papers and database records for teachers and advanced readers, not assigned student reading.
- Claim: Mateo's left lip is best explained by a failed between two specific prominences.
- Evidence: Normally the ____ process fuses with the on each side to close the lip.
- Reasoning: If that joining fails on the left side, the lip stays open on the left, which matches Mateo's one-sided .
How this is graded (rubric)
For: On a simple labeled diagram of the five prominences, (1) label all five blocks, (2) draw an arrow showing the fusion that closes the upper lip on each side, and (3) on the LEFT side only, mark an X where the fusion failed for Mateo, with a one-line caption naming the two blocks that did not join.
| Criterion | Proficient | Developing | Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete | Every required part of the artifact is present and filled in. | Most parts are present, but one is missing or left blank. | Several parts are missing. |
| Accurate | The science and data are correct and match the evidence. | Mostly correct, with a small factual slip. | Key science or data is wrong. |
| Scientific reasoning (CER) | States a claim, backs it with specific evidence, and explains the reasoning. | Has a claim and evidence, but the reasoning is thin or missing. | Gives an answer with no evidence or reasoning. |
| Professional communication | Clear, organized, and labeled the way a clinician or scientist would write it. | Readable but disorganized or missing labels. | Hard to follow. |
| Submitted | Turned in through the route named under Submit here and confirmed. | Turned in, but in the wrong place or unconfirmed. | Not turned in. |
How the model answer scores against this rubric
- CompleteProficient: Nothing is left blank: the model fills every part of "On a simple labeled diagram of the five prominences, (1) label all five blocks, (2) draw an arrow showing the fusion that closes the upper lip on each side, and (3) on the LEFT side only, mark an X where the fusion failed for Mateo, with a one-line caption naming the two blocks that did not join.".
- AccurateProficient: Every number and claim matches the case evidence.
- Scientific reasoning (CER)Proficient: It names a claim, cites the specific evidence, and explains the reasoning, not just the answer.
- Professional communicationProficient: It is organized and labeled like a real chart note.
- SubmittedProficient: It would be attached to your class form or handed in, and confirmed.
What's next: We named the blocks that must fuse. But each is packed with cells that grow and migrate, and we have not asked where those cells come from. So the next question is: where do the cells that build these facial blocks actually originate? We chase that next time.