Incubating Eggs & Hatching Chicks in the Classroom!

Hatching chicks has been part of the second-grade science curriculum for nearly 30 years. Retired teacher, Carole Martens, initially got the ball rolling with a handmade incubator and brooder. Before the current materials used today, teachers marked the eggs with X’s and O’s and turned them twice a day to replicate the natural ‘turning’ the hen would do. Colleague Brenda Cronk continued the tradition and paved the way for what happens each spring in every Amery Grade 2, Montessori, and PBL classroom. There are now four incubators with automatic turners, heat lamps, official watering and feeding tools, and sawdust shavings from Mr. Josh Ganje’s high school wood shop. The classes rotate the hatching experience during the months of April and May. It has grown into a real community effort as eggs are offered from neighbors, families of students, and staff.

The chick unit falls under the science standard of life science. Students engage in a variety of activities that build their understanding of the stages of chick development and conditions necessary for development to happen. This three-week unit integrates science with reading, writing, and math skills. Students are engaged in every way as they read nonfiction and fiction, journal, graph, observe, and record data.

Real Life: Not all endings are happy ones. Students can learn the tough lessons of life that not every chick develops completely. Some chicks require assistance out of the shells while others stop developing along the way for no true understanding of why.

Anticipation & Excitement: The entire second grade hallway is buzzing with excitement when it’s “hatch day.” Conversations are quickly centered on how many chicks each classroom has, creative names for these cute new buddies, and encouragement to neighboring classmates.

The Final Step: At the end of the incubating unit, families are invited to take some of the chicks home. This experience has been the kick-off to many families starting to raise chickens.

• Only fertilized eggs that are warmed will develop into chicks.

• Chicks begin as an embryo.

• The heartbeat begins after 48 hours.

• Eggs are candled on the 6th or 7th day. The chick’s eye and veins can be seen.

• It takes 21 days for chicks to hatch.

• From the earliest sign of hatching, chirps can be heard from inside the egg.

• Chicks can take eight to twelve hours to hatch once the first crack is made.

“I love to see the anticipation from the very beginning. Even though they can’t see what’s happening on the inside, they check on them each day in the incubator and trust something will happen after 21 days!” ~Mrs.

Wentz

“It is always so fun to see how much the chicks grow and change from the time they hatch, to when they go to their forever homes just a few days later! They become part of our class family for the short time they are here!” ~Mrs.

Komanec

“Our 2nd graders get to experience a complete life cycle! That’s amazing! The excitement and anticipation over those 21 days of learning is a pleasure for everyone. Seeing the chicks hatch and grow for a few days is by far the reward of it all!” ~Mrs. Halverson