Slides depicting the 21-day egg-hatching experiment at MLT. Kindergarteners were rewarded with 9 chicks.

1. 2013 Chick Watch
at Mary L. Tracy
April 29th – May 10th

2. The Eggs Arrive
 Every class begins visiting the incubator
once a day to observe the eggs.
 Then, the kids return to class to write in
their journals
 What did I see?
 What did I hear?
 What did I smell?

3. Thank you Mr. and Mrs.
Capecelatro, for going
to UCONN to get our
12 eggs and giving us the
incubator for this
project!

5. The Eggs Arrive
 The early observations are full of wonder.
 The eggs had x’s and o’s on them so we
could track rotating them 3 times a day.
 I see hugs and kisses on the eggs.
 I hear chirping.
 I smell coffee.

8. The Days Go By
 It was a long, long wait.
 It became harder and harder to think of
things to write in the observation journals.
 I see the red light.
 I hear the fan turn on and off.
 I smell nothing!

11. The Days Go On… and On
 And the wait grew longer.
 Then, one day something was a little different.
 As the chicks’ due date grew closer, Mr.
Bruder added a webcam.
 I see the little box on top. It’s a camera.
 I hear nothing!
 I smell nothing!

13. The Days Go On… and On
 And the wait grew even longer.
 One of the children summed up what we all
were thinking…
 How do we know something is in there?
 This experiment truly was a leap of faith,
and the adults began wondering, “What if
nothing happens?”

14. Then one day something
did change!
On Monday, May
6th, one egg had a crack!

16. At Last… A Crack Appears
 The journal writing was excited and hopeful.
 Everyone saw the crack.
 I saw the shell moving!
 I heard chirping!
 I smelled fedders!
 Our first chick was on his way, and he was
noisy!
 But he was also very, very slow; and by 7:30 p.m.
nothing new had happened.

18. At Last… A Chick Arrives
 Sometime about 7:55 p.m. on May 6th, the
first chick arrived.
 Some families saw it on the webcam and
emails started flying!
 It seemed like within only a few hours, and --
with none of the chicks taking the time our
first one did – soon there were four, then
six.

20. The webcam was a wonderful addition to the project,
and at 11:00 on Tuesday morning, everyone got to see
one little chick push out of his shell, including kids
watching the webcam in a school in New Jersey!

21. Everyone fell in love!

22. The chicks peck naturally.. the shiny tin foil balls
attracted them to the dish, and when they pecked, they
found the food.
The marbles in the water dish prevented them from
falling in and drowning if they got into the water dish.

23. Time to Say Goodbye
 On May 10th, it was time for our chicks to
travel to Buttermilk Farm – their new home!
 By then, they had names:
Sebastian, Smiley, Mickey, Sunshine, Cookie, Fl
uffy, Cooper, Rose, and Fuzzy.
 “Look how tiny they are!”
 “I want to take one home!”
 “One was running. 9 hatched, 3 didn’t. Two knocked in
to each other. One fell down.”
 “They’re sleeping. They’re fighting. They’re eating. I saw
all of them in the pen. I heard chirps. I smelled
nothing.”