Every year, second graders at Fairview Elementary learn about animal life cycles with an egg-citing hands-on activity. The school receives chicken eggs that are then placed in an incubator. Students and staff observe and take notes as the eggs hatch, and they watch as baby chicks grow over the course of a few weeks. This year’s eggs were donated by one of the second grade students Henry Brown and his family.
“This is always one of the most exciting times in second grade,” said second grade teacher Jennifer Gortney. “The students are always so intrigued by the process. It really is a wonderful way to teach the life cycle stages in a fully immersed experience.”
Ms. Gortney shared with the class how this opportunity was different from when she was in second grade.
“I didn’t grow up on a farm, I was raised in a city,” she said. “I saw like many of the other students for the first time a chick hatching from an egg. It’s so much fun to watch their facial expressions as most see the process for the first time. Each year doing this lesson makes me feel like a second grader myself.”
