Clue 1: Orient yourself
What are the main parts, stages, or choices in this model?
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
Where do the traveling builder cells for the face begin, and what happens if too few reach the right place?
Why it matters: Neural crest cells help build much of the face and skull. Tracing where these cells start, move, and stop helps researchers explain craniofacial differences and test tissue-repair ideas.
On your WebXam
You can trace how cells move during development and predict how a changed route affects a tissue.
For life
To find the cause, change one thing and watch what changes.
Principle: Same look, different cause
Try the everyday version first
Same look, different cause
Different work crews leave one station on separate transit lines. Each line carries its crew to a different job site, so a blocked line leaves one site short of builders.
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
What changes while the other parts stay the same?
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
What check would separate two explanations that still fit the picture?
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.
- 1What are the main parts, stages, or choices in this model?
- 2What changes while the other parts stay the same?
- 3What check would separate two explanations that still fit the picture?
Tier 1 check
Finish with the everyday model
Predict what happens to one job site if its transit line is blocked while the others stay open.
Answer in plain words. You can finish this required check without opening either optional section below.
Ready for the real names? Optional tier 2
Craniofacial Research Track
Session 4The Master Switch, OctoberLens: Human Body Systems
The cells that build the face
Discovery question
Where do the traveling builder cells for the face begin, and what happens if too few reach the right place?
Same look, different cause. A gap can remain because too few builders arrived, because they took the wrong route, or because they could not finish joining.
Before this page, you should know
- A is the result when a step does not complete during its critical window.
- Clefts can be (one side) or (both sides), and can involve lip only, only, or both.
If not, review
Today's new idea is only
Same look, different cause. A gap can remain because too few builders arrived, because they took the wrong route, or because they could not finish joining.
Goal: Trace the builder cells into the forming face and predict what happens when too few arrive or they travel to the wrong place.
Know by the end
- Cranial form at the edges (folds) of the early , then migrate away into the head.
- In the face these cells become : the bone, , and that fill the prominences.
- The prominences grow because multiplies inside them and pushes them toward the .
- If too few cells arrive, or they travel to the wrong place, a stays too small to reach and fuse with its neighbor.
1
Where the cells come from
Model start: Cranial start at the folded edges of the forming , then break away and migrate into the head and face.
- On a simple cross-section, mark the neural folds and draw arrows showing leaving the folds.
- In one sentence, say what makes these cells special compared with cells that stay in the .
2
What they become in the face
Model start: Once they arrive, become , the loose - cells that grow into facial bone and .
- List three facial tissues that turn into.
- Define in your own words and explain how it fills a .
3
Connecting cells back to Mateo
Model start: If too few cells reach a maxillary , it grows too little, so its edge never reaches the to fuse.
- Predict what Mateo's prominences would look like if too few reached them.
- Explain why a problem in cell , not just in , could leave a .
MedlinePlus
Open the tool Plain-language explanations of a gene or condition, written for patients and families.
When you use this: Use this when a research paper is too dense, or when you need to explain a finding to Mateo's family in everyday words.
What the screen looks like
Step by step
- 1Open medlineplus.gov/genetics and search the gene or condition (IRF6).
- 2Read the summary written in everyday words.
- 3Note the conditions the gene is linked to at the bottom of the page.
Capture these fields
- Topic: IRF6 gene
- Plain-language summary: IRF6 helps the tissues of the face join correctly before birth.
- Linked conditions: Van der Woude syndrome; nonsyndromic cleft
How to read it: Start here when a research paper is too dense. MedlinePlus gives you the gist in everyday words so you can go back to the harder source knowing what it is about.
Lost? About MedlinePlus Genetics
Level 1, Guided
Use the sentence starters, a word bank from the vocabulary, a labeled diagram, and the exact source link.
Level 2, Collaborative
Complete a partly blank model or table and explain it.
Level 3, Independent
Make a claim from a new example or an unfamiliar entry in the same database.
Team roles
- Manager: keeps the group moving
- Recorder: writes the shared model or table
- Evidence checker: verifies each claim against the source
- Reporter: explains the group's reasoning
Process reflection
- What evidence changed your thinking today?
- What did your group disagree about, and how did you resolve it?
- What question is still unresolved?
By the end of this session, submit ONE of: a labeled diagram with a 2-sentence explanation; a claim, evidence, reasoning paragraph; a completed data table from a real database; or a one-question exit ticket using today's vocabulary.
Meets standard if your explanation correctly connects structure, timing, gene or protein function, or evidence source to Mateo's case: Trace the builder cells into the forming face and predict what happens when too few arrive or they travel to the wrong place.
How this is graded (rubric)
For: Trace the builder cells into the forming face and predict what happens when too few arrive or they travel to the wrong place.
| 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 "Trace the builder cells into the forming face and predict what happens when too few arrive or they travel to the wrong place.".
- 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.
Go deeper Optional tier 3
Everything required is above. Open this section only if you want the research reading and source trail.
Student reading
The idea in plain English
Where do the traveling builder cells for the face begin, and what happens if too few reach the right place?
Different work crews leave one station on separate transit lines. Each line carries its crew to a different job site, so a blocked line leaves one site short of builders.
Same look, different cause. A gap can remain because too few builders arrived, because they took the wrong route, or because they could not finish joining.
- Cranial form at the edges (folds) of the early , then migrate away into the head.
- In the face these cells become : the bone, , and that fill the prominences.
- The prominences grow because multiplies inside them and pushes them toward the .
- If too few cells arrive, or they travel to the wrong place, a stays too small to reach and fuse with its neighbor.
This lesson reading is written from the vetted sources in the advanced citation trail below.
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 reading for this session
Why this source matters
This explanation gives you the background for today's idea without making you decode a research paper: Same look, different cause. A gap can remain because too few builders arrived, because they took the wrong route, or because they could not finish joining.
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.
These records and papers document the science. They are not assigned student reading. Use the plain-language lesson reading above unless your teacher asks you to inspect an original source.