Update on the HEN HOUSE

It is almost time! Sunday was DAY 18 for our eggs in the incubator, so we went into LOCKDOWN MODE! 

What does this mean? 

Step ONE: To get the eggs ready for hatching, we have to take out the egg turner, so the chicks have enough room to start zipping, pipping, moving and getting themselves out of their shells. 

Step TWO: Remove the red plug on side B of the water reservoir and fill up both sides (A and B), so the humidity increases to 80%. 

Step THREE: Open the vent on the front of the incubator lid ALL the way, so there is proper ventilation. 

Now we wait and see what happens over the next couple of days. Hopefully we will hear the chicks chirping in the next 24-48 hours, and then they will start using their egg tooth to zip and pip their way out of their shell. 

We will keep everyone posted! 

Here is a great presentation my colleague updated with pictures and information from different sources. We have been sharing this with our students: 

If you are looking for stories and videos, you can view the Hen House Bitmoji classroom HERE. If you would like to make copy and edit the links you can do so HERE. 

May Choice Board and an update on the HEN HOUSE!

I am not sure how it can be May already, but here we are! April and May in the library have been really exciting as we follow the development of our chicks. I created a simple interactive classroom for students to access while we are studying the life cycle of a chick.  Today is DAY 13, and our chicks are growing their down feathers. Their projected hatch date is May 10th. If you click on the image, it will take you to the website, and you can view the interactive hen house. 

You can make a copy HERE if you would like to use it and make changes. 

I have also updated the choice board for May. Some of the activities are repeats from previous months, but I did include the Star Wars board from Shannon McClintock Miller with links that should work with our firewall. 

The May choice board can be viewed on the website when you click the image: 

Feel free to make a copy HERE, so you can make changes!

Part of the choice board includes the Gordon Library research HUB. I started this to highlight different research topics I have curated for students over the years. Click on the image below to view it. 

You can make a copy HERE and make changes. 

I hope there are some resources here that you can use with your students to close out the school year. Happy May! 

We are hatching chicks...CANDLING!

 

Our library classes are candling the eggs for the students to locate the embryo and the veins. We captured some pretty great pictures!

Day 7: 

The heart and stomach are developing. The chick's body starts to catch up to its head. 

Day 8: 

Feather traces appear. This is where the feathers will grow. 

Day 9:

The chick's body continues to grow and catch up with the head. 

Day 9 is a great day to candle. The document camera is connected to a google meet, which is projected on the board. This allows the entire class to see the egg candling. It is quite the set up! 

May 10th is the projected hatch date! 

Hannon's Hub has CHICKS! (and a recap of our other stations...)

Our CREATE stations are definitely the focal point of our library activities. For a recap of these stations, click on the image below, and it will navigate you to a chart with links to earlier blog posts that highlight and explain these activities and stations.  This is a good overview of everything we have done so far. 

In the meantime, we have some exciting action happening in the library.  Because it is the time of year where we teach LIFE CYCLES, my colleague and I have decided there is no better way to teach this than to incubate chick eggs and have the students watch them for 21 days. Each day we are able to watch the eggs, research how they are developing, and candle them for the students to see the progression. It creates quite the buzz!

Let's start at the beginning. We use the Nurture Right Incubator 360. The directions are simple, and it is easy to set up. Once we take it out of the box, we set the day, and make sure the egg turner light is on. The incubator needs to come up to the correct temperature and humidity. 

TEMPERATURE: 99.9 FAHRENHEIT

HUMIDITIY: 40-50%  

Next, we stop by the local farm to pick up the eggs. The first 14 days in the carton, the fertility rate stays at 95%.  After 14 days, it drops incrementally.  We always make sure that we have everything set up and ready to go within those first few days of picking up our eggs because we don't want to keep them in the carton for more than 14 days. 

Once we have the eggs, we take a crayon, and we label each egg letters A - L. One side has a capital letter and the other side we place a lowercase letter.  This allows us the opportunity to track the eggs in the incubator to make sure the egg turner is working and the eggs are revolving AND rotating in their snug incubator home. 

Now we are ready to roll! Place each egg in the incubator, place the lid firmly on top, and add water to the water reservoir on the side. Monitoring the humidity can be the most challenging because it can fluctuate. Throughout the day, I check the humidity and add water as needed. When I am home, I can check on the eggs because I set up the computer with a document camera and create a google meet that I can access from my cell phone in case the temperature or humidity drops. 

If you do this project, I highly recommend the Learning Resources plastic eggs you can open each day and show the students exactly what the chick looks like inside. The students LOVE these. Check them out HERE.

We are currently incubating 12 chick eggs for the students to observe.  This additional observation station is something I incorporate throughout the year to integrate science lessons.  When we are not watching chick eggs, I will on occasion set out microscopes with different slides for students to analyze. 

Check back later in the week to take a look at our candling the eggs. This is going to be a fun 21 days.