Eggs, eggs, eggs

In Science, the children have been learning about oviparous animals. We are beginning to appreciate the great diversity of this group:  birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates and even some mammals, all lay eggs. We are observing eggs closely! Eggs that may have been fertilized before release, as in birds and some reptiles, and eggs that are fertilized externally, as in amphibians. Students have been searching our vernal pools near school for amphibian eggs as we begin to study the salamander and frog life cycles. On a few of our outings we hit the jackpot; we collected frog eggs and salamander eggs and placed them in our classroom tank.

We have been making careful observational drawings each day as we document the changes that the eggs undergo. Students also noticed some insect larvae in the tank. We are watching carefully to see what develops!

In preparation for hatching our own school chicks, students are learning about the anatomy of chicken eggs - the different components that are necessary for sustaining a developing chick. We’ve found that there are far more parts to a chicken egg beyond just the yolk, whites, and shell. In mid-April we’ll begin incubating 24 organic Wellsummer chickens. The students have set up the incubator and are developing plans for constructing a chick brooder.