Our Chicks Are Hatching!

What came first, the chicken or the egg? Watch chicks emerge from their shells and make models of them. You’ll always remember the amazing event!

• 1.

  <STRONG>In the incubator.</STRONG> After a hen mates with a rooster, she lays fertilized eggs. In 21 days, these eggs will hatch if they are kept warm by the hen’s body or an incubator. Find out what happens inside the shell while the embryo is growing into a chick. If possible, obtain an incubator and fertilized eggs to see what happens next!

• 2.

  <STRONG>They’re hatching!</STRONG> When the chick is ready to hatch, it pokes a hole in the sac, sticks its head through the shell membrane, and breathes in the air space. You can hear the chicks peeping inside their shells. Baby chickens use "egg teeth" to peck their way out of their shells. When the chicks hatch, they are wet and tired. Soon they dry and turn into balls of fluff!

• 3.

  <STRONG>Capture the excitement!</STRONG> With white and yellow Crayola Model Magic®, sculpt a chick coming out of its shell. Use modeling tools and textured objects to make the chick look wet and tired. Add color to the Model Magic from a Crayola Washable Marker to make the shell and chick look realistic. Sculpt a fluffy chick to show what it looks like when it’s dry, too.

• 4.

  <STRONG>Share the news!</STRONG> Tell the whole exciting story of your chicks to your friends and family. Use your sculpture to help describe exactly what you saw.

Benefits

• Children learn how chicks form and hatch from eggs.
• Children observe the incubation and hatching process, either in the classroom or in photographs.
• Children make Model Magic sculptures of hatching eggs and fluffy chicks.

Adaptations

• Draw the stages of development of a chick inside its shell.
• Pretend you are a newly hatched chick. Act out your response to your new environment.
• Younger children and those with special needs may especially benefit from seeing photographs of each stage of embryo development as well as watching the hatching process.
• Before beginning this project, locate a farmer who will adopt the chicks after they hatch. Carefully follow incubation instructions.
• Assessment: Look for accuracy and detail in the sculptures.