Good eggs at Golden Hill Elementary

There are a lot of good eggs in Golden Hill Elementary’s kindergarten classrooms. The eggs the students have been watching with much anticipation have hatched!

This hands-on learning experience teaches students about the life cycle of a chick. Each day, students turned a page in their chick booklet to see the development of the chick inside the egg and learn what the chicks needed to get ready to hatch.

“I learned that the eggs need a red light to stay warm,” said student Benjamin Bodwell.

In addition to seeing development on the pages of their booklet, kindergarten teacher C. Tutko shared, “We use candling (a process where a strong light is shined to see details through the shell) to see if there is an embryo inside the egg.”

Tutko added, “They learn a lot of vocabulary as well, including embryo, blood vessel and egg shells. When they get to the chick stage, and they’re in the brooder box, the students learn all the parts — incubator, turning tray, candling box — and then they can get up close and personal with them.”

“After we finished coloring day 21 in our book, the eggs started hatching,” shared Nathan Femiano. “I was so excited when they stuck their beaks out,” added Alice Dunivan.

Students made observations and were fascinated by the variety of colors of eggs and chicks.

“Our chicks are black, white, and yellow,” Bodwell said. Femiano shared that his class enjoyed naming the chicks according to what they looked like, including Oreo, Caramel, and Sunny. Dunivan added, “One of our eggs was green!”

After weeks of anticipation, Adelyn Liberth and her classmates couldn’t wait to hold the chicks. “They were so fluffy and soft,” she shared.

This unforgettable experience for students is made possible by a local farmer who donates the eggs, and the chicks that hatch are returned to the farm.

“I hope this is a fond memory for the students that they always remember and look back on,” shared kindergarten teacher Linda Shute.