How to Hatch Chicks at School
Where to Start
Hatching chicks at school can be a wonderful project that will surely create life-long memories for the students. Before you jump right in, make sure to talk with your administration and local services to discuss any concerns or policies currently in place.
After consulting with others, start at the end. Make sure you have a safe, reliable home for your chicks once they’ve outgrown your classroom. Consider reaching out to local farmers, families of your school, or even keeping them at school pets!
Lastly, make sure you are familiar with the steps to take to ensure a successful hatch. If you have successfully hatched chicks at your home, leave us a note on our CONTACT US page to be quoted on this website.
Supplies You Will Need
Check out the supplies listed on the Supplies tab.
*Please also consider having a PERMISSION SLIP for your students to touch the eggs and chicks. Chicks can carry disease, and while we take all precautions
Educational Resources
Be sure to take educational advantage of hatching chicks in your classroom. Here are some examples of educational resources for your classroom:
- Booklet for kids: We print these booklets (not a free resource) for every child. It has wonderful visuals and keep them engaged throughout the 21-day process.
- Vocabulary Cards: We use these cards to learn and practice using this relevant vocabulary throughout the project.
- Posters + more: There are wonderful visuals and other resources available. We use this in our classroom
- Plastic Life Cycle Eggs: We use these eggs to compare and contrast the difference of the chicks as they develop in their eggs. The children find these fascinating! It also helps us to disturb the eggs via candling less because we can better understand their development.
- Readers’ Theater: We love practicing reading with expression! One way to do that is through Readers’ Theater. Here is one passage we use during the chick unit.
- Chick Countdown: We keep a large countdown near our incubator. We love this one! We keep this one in the hallway so that other students in the school can keep track of the chicks’ development, too.
Standards Covered
Hatching chicks covers many academic standards. Most notably is the understanding of the bird life cycle. Make sure to consult the appropriate standards for your school district.
- Science Standards: We use NC DPI standards for second grade.
2.L.1 Understand animal life cycles.
2.L.1.1 Summarize the life cycle of animals including:
2.L.1.2 Compare life cycles of different animals such as, but not limited to, mealworms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies or frogs.
- Science Standards: We use NC DPI standards for second grade.
2.L.2 Remember that organisms differ from or are similar to their parents based on the characteristics of the organism.
2.L.2.1 Identify ways in which plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed appearance and ways they are different. 2.L.2.2 Recognize that there is variation among individuals that are related.
Integration into Other Subjects
Science standards are just the tip of the iceberg. Hatching chicks can integrate a variety of other standards. Here are some examples from the NC second grade standards:
- Reading Standards: Children will read a variety of nonfiction texts that are able to cover most informational text standards (RI2.1-RI2.10).
- Writing Standards: We have integrated so many writing standards in our chick-hatching projects! From informative writing to fantasy writing with our chicks as the main characters. We also include writing friendly letters to other classes inviting them to visit our chicks. These opportunities also reinforce the standards for handwriting (RF.2.2).
- Math Standards: Measuring (NC.2.MD.1) the eggs is a wonderful way to include math standards in this project. We also created graphs to represent our hatching predictions along with numbers of chicks hatched per class (when other classes participate in they project) (NC.2.MD.10).
- Speaking and Listening Standards: Students collaborate continuously with this project. They must communicate and discuss ideas such as which eggs might hatch and why? They are required to give support for their answers. Our students also invite other grades and classes in to visit the chicks and teach them about the chick hatching process.
Have You Completed a Successful Hatch at Your School?
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