Learning Goals: To examine the external structures of live adult sea urchins, to induce sea urchins to release gametes; to witness fertilization and early development of the sea urchin.
Key Concepts: sea urchin morphology, fertilization, gametes, microscopy.
Prelab: http://virtualurchin.stanford.edu/fertlab.htm
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Do the interactive tutorials about “fertilization and development” and “anatomy”. The above link brings you directly to the “fertilization and anatomy”, then you click on the hyperlink on the left sidebar to get to “anatomy”.
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Read the background on the lab sheet and answer the 4 questions after it.
Download a copy of the Sea Urchin Fertilization Lab* –
*This lab is adapted from the Carolina Biological experiment called Sea Urchin Embryology Kit.
See our class in action! Click here to watch how we performed the lab.
Did you miss the lab?? Try a virtual lab and see the results.
A great website for viewing Sea Urchin fertilization and embryonic development: http://www.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/gallery.php?Asset=Sea urchin embryo cell division, organelles labeled&Group=&Category=Sea Urchins&Section=Introduction