Each spring, prekindergarten classes engage in an egg to chick hatching study. The students learn about the 21-day life cycle of a chick, explore the biology of other animals that lay eggs, record their scientific observations in a journal, and discover the different qualities of eggs through multiple experiments. A number of chicken eggs are placed in incubators in both Lisa Martin and Paige Bloom’s classrooms so the students can care for the eggs until they hatch.
“When the baby chicks were growing inside the egg, we candled the eggs,” said one prekindergarten student. “In the dark, we held up a flashlight to see inside the egg so we would know if we had any dud eggs. Mrs. Martin said if we don’t see a blob then it is a dud egg. If we saw a moving blob that meant the baby chick was growing inside.”
After about 21 days, each classroom had a number of baby chicks that had hatched. Mrs. Martin and Ms. Bloom’s chicks received many visitors, and the students enthusiastically shared the knowledge that they had learned from their study.