🐣🐥🐓 Students are cracking open the wonders of biology at Joe P. Eblen Intermediate School.
Teacher Dean Gibbs brought chicken eggs from his farm in Leicester to the classroom, where students have been watching the chicks incubate, hatch, and grow. It’s a valuable lesson that combines biology, veterinary science, and agriculture. On Tuesday, sixth graders watched a chick work its way out of its shell using its specialized egg tooth. They exclaimed with excitement as Mr. Gibbs carefully handed each student one of the older chicks to hold.
“It’s a way to learn how it actually happens,” said Grayson, a sixth grader. “My grandparents have chickens, so I’ve seen it before, but it’s cool for everyone else to see how they hatch and how they act when they’re babies.”
Mr. Gibbs thanked a private donor who provided the funding for a professional incubator. He plans to incubate and hatch duck and pea fowl eggs in future lessons.
“It’s great for the kids to see how they actually hatch and how to feed and take care of them,” he said. “Some of them might even start doing this at home. I also like to tell them the difference between how I raise these chickens - free range - versus one that’s grown in a cage.”
