Bobbi Richardson

Linda Branch

Rosemary Jodeit

Kindergarten Science

Charming Chicks

Overview:

This is a collection of activities across the curriculum designed to coincide with the hatching of chicks in the classroom. The incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days. Styrofoam incubators sold for the classroom will have detailed instructions. There are also many informative web sites that will help you prepare for this endeavor. These activities are intended to be used over a period of several weeks as this exciting process takes place.

Objectives:

SCI.9.A – Identify basic needs of organisms including food, water, air and shelter.

SCI.7.D – Observe and record stages in the life cycle of organisms in their natural environment. .

SCI.7.A - Observe, describe and record changes in size, mass, color, position quantity, sounds and movement.

SCI.K.5A – Describe properties of objects such as size and color and characteristics of organisms such as having fur or scales.

MATH.K.13.A – Identify the math in everyday situations.

MATH.K.14.A – Communicate mathematical ideas using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and technology.  

SS.15C – Sequence and categorize information using simple lists, calendars, timelines, and chronological vocabulary.

SS.7A – Identify jobs in the home, school, and community.

MUS.K.1.05 – Build/invent instruments from ordinary objects and perform original works on these instruments.

MUS.K.1.10 – Sing action songs and singing games in unison.

MUS.K.1.01 – Explore vocal sounds by echo singing, matching pitches, demonstrating fast/slow, loud/soft and high/low.

ELA.K.16.B – Record or dictate his/her own knowledge of a topic in various ways such as drawing pictures making lists, and showing connections among ideas.

Materials:

• Styrofoam incubator and accessories (egg turner, thermometer, etc.)
• Fertilized chicken eggs
• Small animal cage to observe chicks after hatching
• Chicken feed
• Plastic cups (cups of various sizes can be used to produce differing sounds)
• String
• Paper clips
• Red paper
• Yellow paper
• White paper or googly eyes
• Scissors
• Tape or glue
• Sponges (optional)
• Book: Hatching Chicks by Susan Blackaby
• CD with “Chicken Dance” song

Procedure:

Read the story Hatching Chicks by Susan Blackaby. Discuss the story and explain to students that we will be hatching eggs in an incubator. Many books and web sites give detailed instructions on using an incubator. Chicks take 21 days to hatch once they are placed in the incubator. Use a flashlight or candling device to see inside the eggs at different times during the incubation period. This is fascinating for the children and will also let you know if any of the eggs are not viable. For more information on how to get started, try these web sites:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI0631.html (Hatching and Brooding Small Numbers of Chicks)

http://gallus.tamu.edu/Extension%20publications/b-5084.pdf (Hatching Eggs in the Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide)

Activities:

• Keep a countdown calendar outside of the classroom. Have students take turns marking off the 21 days until the chicks hatch. This will create interest throughout the school and involve other grade levels in the learning process.
•  Make a photo timeline of the process. Use a digital camera to record the progress of the eggs, the hatching and the chicks week by week.  Print out the pictures and have students help construct the timeline by gluing on pictures and writing or dictating captions.
• Have students dictate a language experience story about what happened. Focus on the sequence of the events. Record their responses on chart paper and post the story outside the classroom along with the timeline. This will continue to create interest among other classes and the baby chicks will have many visitors!
• Have students complete an independent writing activity detailing the sequence of events. Students will illustrate and write or dictate information to complete the phrases: First______, second_________, third________.  (See writing form titled “Hatching Chicken Eggs” at the end of this lesson.)
• After the chicks hatch, introduce the song “Who Fed the Chickens” by Ella Jenkins. This is a song in which the students pantomime actions (feeding chickens, stacking hay, and milking cows) and echo responses to the music. Follow up with a discussion of how we will care for the new baby chicks. What do we feed chickens? What other needs do they have? (water, warmth, etc.)
• Have students make “cluck cups”. (See directions at the end of this lesson.) This is an art activity that will also be used to focus on science and music objectives about sound and vibration. Use different sized cups to make different pitches. The cup amplifies sound. Does size of cup affect how loud or soft the clucking sound is? Vibration makes sound. Feel our throats when speaking. How are vibrations made with different instruments? If available, have a student or teacher play notes on a violin or cello while students touch the strings to feel the vibrations.
• Discriminating sounds – place matching items inside pairs of plastic eggs.  (Ex.: 2 eggs with pennies, 2 with beans, rice, paper clips, keys, etc.) Have students shake the eggs and try to match the eggs based on sound. (This can be placed in a center after teaching it.)
• Two other writing forms that can be used for students to record their observations can be found at the end of this lesson. One is titled “Our Baby Chicks” and can be used right after the chicks hatch. The other is titled “How Have Our Chicks Grown” and can be used to record their observations of the changes in the chicks as they grow.
• Have students describe and pantomime how the chickens move. Teach students the Chicken Dance as they listen to the well known Chicken Dance song on CD.

Directions for “Cluck Cups”:

1. Purchase. red plastic cups. (You may want to use different sizes to compare the sounds made by each.)
2. Make a hole in the bottom of the cup with a push pin.
3. Cut one piece of string 15-18 inches long.
4. Tie a paper clip to one end of the string.  Thread string through hole from the bottom to the inside of the cup, leaving the paper clip on top to anchor the string.
5. Tape or glue one yellow beak on front of cup, one red comb on top of cup, and two googly eyes on either side of yellow beak so that your cup resembles a chicken.
6. Have students use their fingernails or wet a small cube of sponge and slide the sponge down the string to make the string vibrate so the chicken will crow. Try different movements down the string to create different sounds. (Ex. Small jerky movements vs. slow steady movements.)

Extension Activities:

·        Take a field trip to a farm or livestock show. Discuss life cycles of other animals.

·        Read the book: Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller which tells about many other animals that hatch from eggs.

·        Introduce farmers, ranchers and other related careers.

Name _____________________

Our Baby Chicks

Name _____________________          

How have our chicks grown?

Name _____________________          

Hatching Chicken Eggs