The study of development requires learners to understand spatially complex concepts like embryo anatomy. Embryo anatomy is dynamic over time, and it is often manipulated by researchers in experiments that are fundamental to the field. This spatial complexity can be challenging for novice developmental biologists, particularly those who are taught in lecture-only courses that rely heavily on two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional concepts. This article describes a hands-on teaching activity I used in an undergraduate developmental biology course to help students learn about early development in amphibians through the lens of experimental embryology. Students used modeling clay to construct a frog egg and simulate early developmental processes. Students then used the models to recreate the classical embryological experiments that demonstrated the inductive properties of the dorsal organizer and the requirement of cortical rotation for organizer establishment. As students performed the activity, they completed a worksheet to check their comprehension, particularly of concepts that students typically struggle to understand. Data from a survey and pre/post-assessments show evidence of learning gains and positive student perceptions of the lesson. This activity is a simple, inexpensive, and easily replicable way to include hands-on active learning in developmental biology courses and enable students to practice experimental thinking, even in courses without an associated lab.

Primary Image: Clay Embryology. Students bisect a model amphibian embryo made of clay. Different planes of bisection result in different developmental outcomes.

From an experiential, hands-on perspective, the Developmental Biology Laboratory is easily amenable to a wide range of undergraduate-friendly experiments. Thus, pivoting to a virtual laboratory during the COVID-19 pandemic required significant reconfiguring to capture the essence of student-driven experiments. The innovative laboratory activity described here was inspired by the nuggets of truth contained within many of the mythological origin stories. Students were asked to propose a logical developmental process that could lead to a specific mythological creature. In this article, the mythology-based developmental biology activity is described, including its inspiration, instructions and support for the students, and sample work.

Primary Image: How would Cerberus arise during development? This figure depicts a gastrulation-stage embryo on the left and the three-headed dog Cerberus on the right. If given this mythological creature, the student will generate a hypothesis to explain what step(s) in development were atypical to yield the three-headed dog.