1) The cardiovascular system begins developing in the third week as heart progenitor cells migrate to form the cardiac tube.
2) By the fourth week the heart tube develops blood islands, bends to form cardiac loops, and differentiates into three layers.
3) Septa form between the fourth and fifth weeks, dividing the heart into four chambers and separating the outflow tract into the aorta and pulmonary trunk. Valves form at the atrioventricular junctions and semilunar arteries.