Egg Turning

Today was day 6 on our egg hatch calendar in class! Fertilized chicken eggs take about 21 days to hatch and we in first grade are expecting our "due date" to be May 20. The day our eggs arrived Nurse Kelly helped us wash them then set them in the incubator. She also taught the class all about how to properly wash our hands before and after touching the eggs to keep both ourselves and the chick embryos safe from germs while we learn about them. Each day since, a pair of students has had the job of being our "official egg turners." A mother hen in a nest will turn her eggs several times each day to ensure that they embryo inside forms properly so, with the absence of a hen in our classroom, the students are taking turns rotating the eggs to help our chick embryos grow properly inside. The students have gotten very good at lifting the lid of the incubator just enough to turn the eggs carefully while still keeping most of the hot, moist air in (the incubator is 100 degrees inside). In photos below you will see the eggs being cleaned when we first got them as well as photos of the eggs in the incubator and some of our egg turners. The badges in the photos say "official egg turner," and "I turned and egg today, ask me how."