Incubating and Waiting

We are 10 days into our egg adventure and we are just waiting, watching, and marking of the days on the calendar. Our two incubators are doing the job of the mother hen: keeping eggs warm and turned. The temperature must remain between 99-100 degrees F for the babies to develop. Both incubators are equipped with turners that turn our eggs several times a day. Mother birds rotate their eggs regularly in the nest as they brood. This keeps the baby from "sticking" to the side of the egg as it grows. We also add water to keep the air moist. Egg shells "breathe" and the membrane just inside the shell needs to remain moist and flexible.

This picture shows the large incubator with it's tray turner and thermometer. This egg is the "mystery egg". It is not as big as duck eggs (so not a duck) and it takes longer to incubate (so not a chicken). Hmmm...time will tell!

Eggsploration!

Last week we explored unfertilized chicken eggs. These are the eggs that you buy at the grocery store and will never form a baby chick. We cracked the shell and explored all the parts of the egg. We also learned the terms yolk, albumen, and chalazae. To learn more about the parts of the egg and their function, check out this 4H embryology link: http://4hembryology.psu.edu/partsn.html

The Eggs Are Here!

Poultry farmer Helen Schweitzer has brought some fertilized eggs for us to hatch in kindergarten this year. We set up two incubators in the classroom last week and talked about what their job is: to substitute for the mother bird. By Monday, we had 3 chicken eggs, 12 duck eggs, and 1 "mystery" egg. The chicken eggs will take 21 days to incubate and the duck and mystery egg will take 28 days to incubate. Let the count-down begin!

Welcome new friends!

I would like to welcome this year's kindergarteners and families to our science blog! Springtime is rich with science opportunities as we welcome new life and animals into our classroom, explore our school's garden, and watch spring bloom around us. This blog will be a place for students to share their learning with friends and family members both near and far.

We start our visits to the Lowell Helping Hands Community Garden next week. We have some fun guest speakers scheduled this spring and we are eager to visit our "outdoor classroom". Stay tuned as we plan to start incubating chicken and duck eggs any day now!