We describe a technique for removing and growing chick embryos in culture that utilizes relatively inexpensive materials and requires little space. It can be readily performed in class by university, high school, or junior high students, and teachers of any grade level should be able to set it up for their students. Students will be able to directly observe the chick's development from 3 days post-fertilization to the point at which it would normally hatch. Observing embryonic development first

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... hand, including the chick embryos' natural movements, gives students a full appreciation for the complexity and wonder of development. Students can make detailed observations and drawings, and gain understanding of important principles in developmental biology. Finally, we suggest various ways in which this project can be adapted to allow students in advanced classes to design and implement their own projects for investigating teratogenic effects on development using the ex ovo model of chick development. To have a successful program in biology, students first need to experience excitement and the sense of amazement that inspires a love of biology. One biological phenomenon that can generate this sense of excitement in students, instructors, and scientists, both young and old, is embryonic development. The complex events that occur to create a higher-order organism from a single cell are simply remarkable. However, the wonder of embryology is largely concealed by the inaccessibility of the embryo in higher-order organisms. Here, we describe a method that permits visualization of the real-time events that occur during embryonic development using embryonated chick eggs. Learning Implications J J J Students will experience the scientific method by formulating questions, performing experiments, making observations, recording data, and drawing conclusions. This course focuses on the scientific method and connects biology to real life situations. Features animations, interactive activities, video demonstrations, self assessments, glossary of terms and an eScience Labs lab kit with customized lab manual. The fifteen lessons and fifteen labs are available in Blackboard from McGraw-Hill Publishers and from Dallas TeleLearning in alternate formats.