Amber's Secret

Amber’s Secret

by

NATIONAL CENTER NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Lisa Rubin and Clyde Freeman Herreid University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Part I – Beginnings

It was the summer after high school graduation. Amber Davies, who had graduated third in her class, was home from her visit to New York University, the college she would be attending in the fall. Amber had always dreamt of being a writer in the “Big Apple,” and now she felt she was finally on her way to escaping her small hometown and shaping a successful future for herself. Amber had celebrated her eighteenth birthday while in New York City. Although the trip had been exciting, she had felt sick the whole time, and the flu-like feeling still hadn’t subsided. She was a little concerned, but attributed it mostly to nerves and lack of sleep. That night as she lay in bed reading, it felt like a gong was going off in her head. Maybe she was on edge over the recent break-up with Brandon, her high school sweetheart. The two had dated since their sophomore year and always joked about getting married. Although Amber’s parents never really liked Brandon, Amber had maintained her relationship with him. But everything seemed to go downhill after graduation. Brandon grew distant and stopped calling. He complained that Amber would eventually be far away in New York and would lose touch with him. About a month later, they agreed to put their relationship on hold. Amber thought maybe her pent-up nerves were finally manifesting themselves as a cold. She went to sleep that night trying to ignore the unfamiliar pains and feelings that were consuming her. I wonder if mom knows she’s pregnant.... I’ve been here nine weeks, she’s got to know soon. It seems like only yesterday I was a tiny blastocyst, traveling down her Fallopian tube and implanting into her uterine wall. I’m about half an inch long now, and I weigh a little over a gram. I’m growing like...