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
What do feeding and clear speech both need from the roof of the mouth?
Why it matters: Feeding requires a seal and speech requires controlled airflow. Matching each problem to the structure behind it helps families get the right bottle, therapy, or surgical support at the right time.
On your WebXam
You can use structure and function to explain feeding and speech problems and match each with support.
For life
One result can have many causes; the outcome alone never tells you which.
Principle: Many roads, one ending
Try the everyday version first
Many roads, one ending
A straw works only when your mouth seals around it. A small gap leaks air and weakens suction. The mouth also needs a good seal to shape air into clear sounds.
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
Use the seal model to explain what feeding and clear speech both need.
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 19The Whole Patient, FebruaryLens: Biomedical Innovations
Feeding and speech across the early years
Discovery question
What do feeding and clear speech both need from the roof of the mouth?
Many roads, one ending. Feeding trouble and nasal-sounding speech are different outcomes that can begin with the same missing seal.
Before this page, you should know
- The tensor veli palatini is a muscle that pulls open the Eustachian tube when we swallow or yawn.
- The Eustachian tube drains the and equalizes its air pressure with the throat.
If not, review
Today's new idea is only
Many roads, one ending. Feeding trouble and nasal-sounding speech are different outcomes that can begin with the same missing seal.
Goal: Use the seal model to explain both problems and match each one with the support that helps.
Know by the end
- Suction needs a sealed mouth; an open lets air leak between the mouth and nose, so a baby cannot build the pressure to feed normally.
- Specialized bottles and feeding positions let a baby with a get enough milk safely.
- Many speech sounds need the to close off the nose; an open or weak palate can make speech sound nasal.
- A assesses and coaches sounds, and works alongside the surgical repair, not instead of it.
- Function (feeding, speech) follows from structure (the seal the provides), so changes in structure change function.
1
Why suction needs a seal
Model start: To feed, a baby lowers pressure inside a sealed mouth so milk is pulled in, which is why a leak between the mouth and nose makes suction hard.
- Explain in one sentence why a baby needs a closed mouth to draw milk.
- Predict what happens to suction if there is an opening between the mouth and the nose.
2
Helping a baby feed
Model start: Specialized bottles that deliver milk with light pressure, plus an upright feeding position, help a baby with a feed safely.
- List two ways a feeding team can help a baby with a get enough milk.
- Note one sign a care team watches to be sure feeding is going well.
3
From palate to speech
Model start: Some sounds need the to close off the nose, so an open palate can make speech sound nasal until the repair and therapy do their work.
- Complete the sentence: Some sounds need the to close off the ____, so an open palate can make speech sound ____.
- Describe how a and the surgeon work as a pair over time.
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: Use the seal model to explain both problems and match each one with the support that helps.
How this is graded (rubric)
For: Use the seal model to explain both problems and match each one with the support that helps.
| 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 "Use the seal model to explain both problems and match each one with the support that helps.".
- 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
What do feeding and clear speech both need from the roof of the mouth?
A straw works only when your mouth seals around it. A small gap leaks air and weakens suction. The mouth also needs a good seal to shape air into clear sounds.
Many roads, one ending. Feeding trouble and nasal-sounding speech are different outcomes that can begin with the same missing seal.
- Suction needs a sealed mouth; an open lets air leak between the mouth and nose, so a baby cannot build the pressure to feed normally.
- Specialized bottles and feeding positions let a baby with a get enough milk safely.
- Many speech sounds need the to close off the nose; an open or weak palate can make speech sound nasal.
- A assesses and coaches sounds, and works alongside the surgical repair, not instead of it.
- Function (feeding, speech) follows from structure (the seal the provides), so changes in structure change function.
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: Many roads, one ending. Feeding trouble and nasal-sounding speech are different outcomes that can begin with the same missing seal.
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.