Lecture
Rather than duplicate the information in the text, I'm going to point you at some of the excellent websites available that have animations or videos of processes in the formation of the embryo.
Much of our knowledge of zygote development to blastula and gastrula depends on studies of sea urchins. For obvious reasons, close studies of human embryos at this state pose ethical issues, so we look for other species with similar development patterns.
The University of Wisconsin supports a good site explaining why we study sea urchins and the results of those studies. Pay particular attention to the sections on cleavage and gastrulation, and watch the movies!
HANG IN THERE...I'm trying to find a replacement set of animations for the Flash sequence we used formerly.
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