Growth and Changes at Shamrock School

The highlight of our Grade One/Two team’s Growth and Changes in Animals unit was hatching chicks and ducklings. It was entertaining and memorable and provided numerous authentic learning opportunities. If this is a project you are interested in undertaking, be prepared for some extra work, a lot of excitement in your classroom and a constant influx of visiting students and adults! And when introducing any animal into your life, research how to care for them first. 

We purchased the Brinsea classroom incubator kit online for one set of eggs, and some additional equipment for the other. The kit came with the incubator, egg candler (to observe the growth and changes within the eggs), food and water dispensers, panels for the enclosure (which would only be high enough to contain chicks for one week) and brooding plate (for warmth). We ended up purchasing a second-hand rabbit/guinea pig cage to use instead of the panels but used the panels when cleaning the enclosures. For the other hatch, we purchased a Brinsea incubator, a second-hand cage, a heat lamp and food and water dispensers. The chicken eggs came from Morning Sound Farm, who also offers field trips and the rental of their complete hatching and brooding set-up if you book a trip with them. The duck eggs were from Dusky Feathers Waterfowl Farm, in Cartwright MB. I happened to have a colleague who was visiting Cartwright at the exact time I needed the eggs, but they do ship them for $30 if you aren’t so lucky. You may also be able to source them on Kijiji. The feed came from Morning Sound Farm as well. We got a vinyl tablecloth for easy clean up, to put the birds on while observing and visiting with them. You will also need a large bag of shavings, or maybe more if you have ducks. Ducklings can also apparently use straw as bedding. 

Fertilized eggs can be stored at room temperature for up to a week before you incubate them. The countdown to hatch day starts when you begin incubation. We chose to begin incubating the duck eggs a week before the chick eggs, so they would hatch at the same time. We set them both to hatch on a Monday, to maximize our time with them. I would recommend setting them for Tuesday, as the ducklings decided to hatch a day early. Fortunately, on the Friday, we noticed one of the eggs wiggling slightly, and could hear it pipping (beginning to tap on the inside of the shell) so we suspected they might make their debut over the weekend. We set up the web cam, created a Microsoft Teams meeting and invited all our students and the entire staff to watch the eggs hatch. We kept the meeting running so the school could check in on the ducklings during the day on Monday and invited the chicks to join with their camera on as well, so everyone could watch them hatch at school. 

Below is a comparison of our experience hatching and caring for both species. You might find it helpful if you are considering hatching either one in your classroom.

We chose to go to the Children’s Museum and the Assiniboine Park Zoo for our field trips. We participated in the Feast Your Eyes program at the Children’s Museum which talked about the different food groups and what helps us grow, glow, and go. We spent time in a classroom setting, creating paper picnic baskets where the students added their favourite foods and activities, followed by a fun parachute activity where students crawled under the parachute to grab play food items and would then share which food group it belongs to. The Animal Life Cycles program at the zoo was also very eggciting! The students participated in a guided tour of the zoo, got to see what an animal’s daily life looks like, learned about various life cycles and many interesting facts! Both places offer great programs for all ages. The students especially loved their exploration time!

Book #1: “You’re Called What?!” by Kes Gray and Nikki Dyson. 

This is a hilarious story, including eye catching illustrations, that capture the reader’s attention through unique and silly, but real, animal names. The animals in the story laugh at each other’s names and try to prove theirs is stranger than the next. You’ll have to buy it to find out how it ends! 

Book #2: Just Try One Bite by Adam Mansbach and Camila Alves McConaughey and illustrated by Mike Boldt. The book is written about the importance of healthy eating with a twist. The kids are trying to convince the parents that eating healthy is important and tastes delicious. There are also many rhymes throughout to keep it interesting and light. 

Book #3: Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada. This information packed story includes descriptions about a variety of animals and picture clues to help the reader guess what animal is growing inside the egg. Through rhymes and verse, it describes how animals care for their eggs and their young. 

Additional Books Purchased:     

• A is for BEE an alphabet book in translation – By: Ellen Heck 
• Who’s Looking? How animals see the world – By: Carol Matas 
• A Business of Ferrets Collective Nouns of the Animal Kingdom – By: Lauren Beckwith 
• Just a Worm – By: Marie Boyd 
• Find out About Animal Babies – By: Martin Jenkins