Classroom Chicken Hatching Final Report

The hatching of chick eggs provided students with a valuable and memorable learning experience. We began this experiment in early April. The process took about 21 days. For many students this was their first exposure to farming life. It also gave students an opportunity to observe the miracle of life. Through this project the students had an opportunity to learn about the incubation process, embryonic development, practice animal care and handling, develop a greater appreciation and understanding of agriculture and specifically the poultry industry, and learn to perform specific skills such as reading a thermometer and candling an egg. Before undertaking this project, we made arrangements for the chicks that were going to hatch. Some parents volunteered to take one or two. The remaining chicks are heading to a local farm. We had a total of eight out of the 24 eggs hatch. In my classroom, I believe children learn best when involved in hands-on, real life experiences. The life cycle of the chicken was made real through the student’s participation in this chick hatching experiment. We were able to integrate several subjects into this project. Besides the obvious relationship in science we were able to tie into ELA, Math, and Social Studies. In ELA, our connection was through the use of stories and poems. We read “One Duck Stuck” by Phyllis Root and several other stories and poems that involved chickens and ducks. In Math, we graphed our predictions of the hatch rate. In Social Studies, we focused on the responsibility of taking care of living things/animals. We also learned about the communities that would normally have chickens and other farm animals. This is an experiment I hope to repeat in the future due to the high level of rigor that was produced throughout the process.

Our Original Hatch Date!

Today was our original hatch date for the chickens in the incubator. We have had 7 chickens hatch to this point!! The students and I are so excited about the progress of our hands on chicken experiment. We have held them and nurtured the baby chickens as they enter life and join our classroom. Below are some of the pictures of us enjoying the babies that have been before our very eyes! It's an incredible process that we've had the opportunity to witness!! We hope that you enjoy viewing our pictures as much as we've enjoyed having the experience.

Crazy Alabama Weather & Chick Time

Today and yesterday have been very weather hectic. Bessemer and other surrounding areas have been heavily affected by the severe storms and tornadoes. For the second day in row, we are getting out of school early due to the threat of tornadoes in the area. I am praying for those affected and for everyone to stay safe.

In brighter news, we have had some new visitors in our classroom. Three of our baby chicks have hatched and we are really enjoying seeing the whole experience. I really think it's something that the students and I are not soon to forget.

Cap ~ Week 2 & 3

Week 3 Happenings:

We moved from rooms to “dwelling” this week.  

 

On Monday the kids worked to compare and contrast relative sizes.  We worked in small teams.  Point is that many things come in different sizes but “if they have the basics” they are good.  This expands on the basic components of “chair” and “room” and hopefully this set up the potential to have similar ways of seeing that most dwellings have many standard components: likes and differences are in size and “decoration.”

On Tuesday we cut, colored, and taped together our chick houses. 

On Wednesday we went on a field trip to gather the “nesting” material (on the school grounds).  The weather was nice that day.

On Thursday built nests in the chick houses and move in the chick family. 

On Friday we drew and wrote about the houses.

 

Week 2 Happenings:

On Tuesday we answered questions about our chairs and people that we made during week 1. Some of the questions we reflected on:

1. Describe your chair.
2. What did you need to know to make your scale figure?
3. What would Peter say about your chair?
4. Was your chair like the other chairs?

McWane Science Center

We had an incredible time today on our field trip. We went to the McWane Science Center. We enjoyed an IMAX movie and pizza for lunch!! We played and learned a lot!! Take a look at SOME of the fun things we did today...

We danced...

We learned about tornados..

We rode a bicycle two stories high...

We got to touch sharks and string rays...

We had fun!!

We saw turtles!!

We learned about how they make the weather broadcast...

We played magical instruments...

We danced some more...

At the movies...

Planting Lima Beans & Space Basil

Today we planted seeds two different types of ways. We planted them in soil and we also planted them in a baggie without soil - with a paper towel.The seeds were lima beans. The girls put their bags on the window and the boys put theirs on the cabinet. We are going to compare the two locations and growth rate. Everybody in the class predicted that the lima beans in the bag will NOT grow without soil. We also planted cinnamon basil - earth based and even seeds that had went into space!! We are going to compare and contrast the differences. Below is some of the picture we took today:

Candling Day 6 ~ Our chicken eggs!

Candling - 6 Day Mark

We counted 14 eggs that looked like they had babies in them. We put an O on eggs that we thought would hatch and an X on eggs that we thought would not hatch. Below is a picture of what our eggs looked like at 6 days:

Collaborating Artist Program ~ Week 1 Recap

We have had a wonderful week exploring and creating with Cheryl and the Collaborating Artist Program. Below is a video and several photos that accurately show all of the fun we had creating our own chairs, like Peter ~ in Peter's Chair (our reading story this week). We also built a towers that the students really enjoyed.