NEWBERRY COUNTY — Teachers from all over Newberry County were able to work with Alana West with Newberry County 4-H during an embryology project. Here are what a few of them had to say about the project:
Our second grade students truly enjoyed doing this 4H project this year. We received 16 eggs per second grade class, and after each candling did a ratio of how many were expected to hatch. The excitement increased as we counted down the days for the chicks to hatch. The day they were supposed to hatch, the kids waited anxiously to hear the first peep. Though we only had 6 eggs hatch in my class and 11 in the other, it was a very wonderful and educational experience for our children. They learned many facts about adult chickens, and the proper care for chicks in addition to seeing the life cycle of a chicken in action.
Teachers Joye Hall and Ginna Weatherford from Whitmire Community School
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My students love the embryology project. We begin the class by discussing how many of the eggs we believe will hatch just based on a guess. Mrs. West comes to candle the eggs and we are able to have a great discussion about what has taken place in the egg and are able to change our hatching predictions. This project enables our students to really see science first hand. It is one thing to talk about chicks hatching from eggs, but it is a completely different experience seeing it first hand.
Sunshine K. Hayes, Whitmire Community School
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They loved this project so much! This project was such a positive experience for my special needs students. My class really looked forward to seeing pictures of the developing embryo each day and how quickly they developed before hatching. We were able to integrate many learning experiences into this single project, such as math concepts, vocabulary, science and even social studies. I think this will become a yearly project and we are anxious to do it again next year
Amy Sarver, Newberry High School
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The embryology project was very exciting for my students. It provided a hands-on opportunity to not only care for the eggs during the incubation period but also to take care of the chicks once they hatched. We had a successful project with 14 out of 17 healthy chicks.
Lisa Richardson, Little Mountain Elementary School
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We loved 4H club and I definitely will do it again next year! This year my students participated in the 4H Club embryology project. We were able to actively watch chicks go through their life cycle, a 2nd grade standard. The experience my students received was indescribable. We thoroughly enjoyed the activities the 4H Club provided each day. The end result was the best part, 14 out of 17 chicks hatched.
Brandi Hayes, second grade, Little Mountain Elementary
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The students were very excited about the embryology project and were able to enjoy a hands on experience which corresponded with our animal life cycle unit. The students expressed how amazing it was to witness how large the baby chicks were when they hatched and how unbelievable it seemed that such large chicks had fit inside tiny eggs.
Jamie Stuck, Pomaria-Garmany Elementary School
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Our students at Pomaria-Garmany Elementary were thrilled to participate in the Embryology project provided by the 4H program. Young children have a natural curiosity about living things around them. As an educator, I was able to build on this curiosity and help students develop an understanding of living things and their life cycles through direct experience. The students learned far more by listening, observing, experimenting, and applying their knowledge to this real-world experience than they ever could by simply reading a textbook. This hands-on experience instilled a love for learning for my students.
Brandy Whitesides, Pomaria-Garmany Elementary
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Being able to participate in the 4H Embryology project with my class was truly an awarding experience. It was awesome to see the excitement upon each child’s face as they candled the eggs every few weeks to see how the embryos were growing. In second grade we teach the students about different animal groups and their life cycles. Having the opportunity to watch a real life cycle occur right in front of us in our very own classroom was beyond rewarding. The students were able to name each chick as they hatched and they were released into their natural habitat a week later on a farm that belonged to one of my student’s family. I look forward to participating in this wonderful experience again next year.
Jordan Suber, Little Mountain Elementary School
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The embryology project is a very hands on life cycle experience for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes at Reuben. The students are excited to receive the daily emails that tell the students what they should be seeing in the eggs that are in the incubator. The teacher reads the emails out loud to the students so that they know what she will be doing to the eggs that day ( i.e. Adding water or candling the eggs). The students also like getting to see a “real” pictures of what the inside of the egg looks like. We have eggs in the room that depict the growth of a chick in cartoon form and also have games in centers to reinforce the books and emails we get about the egg life cycle. Both classes are very hands on with the eggs and chicks after hatching. We candle the eggs often to show the students what changes are occurring in the eggs. When the eggs start hatching the students get to see how hard a chick works to get out of egg. They get very excited when the chicks start hatching! After the chicks are several days old we show the students how to care for the chicks ( daily water and feed changing, daily changing of bedding) Mrs. Alana West does a great job of working with the teachers and students to make sure that this project is a great learning experience for everyone.
Brandy Wix, Reuben Elementary
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