Red worms

As part of our worm study, we decided to establish a composting redworm bin and contribute natural fertilizer to the school garden. Our part in the project was to prepare the worm bin. We ripped newspaper into 1 inch strips and added water. This will be the basic medium that our redworms will live in and help them stay moist. We needed 4.5 pounds of newspaper! We prepared for this special project by visiting "The Adventures of Herman the Worm" website posted by the University of Illinois. It helped us calculate how much newspaper and water we would need. When the worms arrived by mail, we studied their bodies and compared them to the earthworms and nightcrawlers we had previously studied. Mrs. Stauffer's Kindergarten added the worms to the bin and will be feeding them for the first few weeks. They add left-over fruit and vegetable scraps to the bin to "feed" the worms. It will take 4-6 weeks for the first batch of compost to be available for us to take out to the garden.

If you are interested in learned more about this project, worm anatomy, or how to make your own redworm composter, check out this link:
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/worms/index.html

Big Chickens!

The chickens have grown quickly and we have determined that Lucky (yellow, born first) is probably a rooster. He is smaller in size, has a larger comb, and few tail feathers. We have determined that Cookie (brown, born second) is probably a hen. She is larger (as most females of most bird species are), has a tiny comb, and has quite large tail feathers. They have both grown great wing feathers and are now trying them out daily. Lucky surprised us last Friday when he flew up to perch on the edge of his box. He just sat there enjoying the view of Kindergarten while Cookie chirped loudly from below!

Growing Up

We have had a wonderful week of petting our new friends, Lucky and Cookies, and watching them grow. It is amazing to see how much they have grown in only two weeks! This week we set up a larger pen for our chicks in the classroom. They stay in their box at night, but come out into their pen during the day. We are taking turns joining them in their pen and learning how to handle them gently.


Today Lucky and Cookie came out into the classroom so the kindergarteners could draw them. We are going to include these drawings with a letter we are sending to Russell Elementary Kindergarten. Russell Elementary Kindergarteners have hatched chicks in their classes as well and we are beginning to correspond with them about our shared interest in chickens!

The Votes Are In!

The votes are in and our two little chicks have names. The yellow chick (now 5 days old) is Lucky. The brown chick (now 3 days old)is Cookie. Welcome to Kindergarten Lucky and Cookie!

Video

I have discovered how to post some video. Turn up your sound so you can hear the chick peeping from inside the egg. This was our first chick as it was busy "unzipping" himself. It's as if it's saying "Look out, world. Here I come!" It took about 30 more minutes to complete hatching. Wow-no wonder it was tired!!!

Surprise!

When chicks hatch they are wet and very tired. They need to stay in their incubator to rest and dry their feathers. As soon as they are dry, they can be moved to their brooder. We spent Thursday morning setting up a brooder for our chicks that had all the basic needs for a living thing: food, water, space, and air. We also added one more thing: friends! Because our first chick was all alone, we put a mirror into the box with it so it wouldn't be lonely.

On Friday, we came to school to find another chick had hatched! This golden brown baby was wet, but very curious about the many faces peering in at it! Our chicks were all due to hatch on Wednesday, but sometimes chicks need a few days longer to incubate. This little guy probably hatched out in the middle of the night. He was beginning to dry by the end of the day, so after school he was moved to the brooder with the other chick. Can't wait to see what happens over the weekend...