Egg Candling Day

Ag/Health-  We had so much to talk about today!  First, I explained to the class that one of our rabbit does had her babies (kits) this past weekend!  We talked about the differences between animals such as goats, horses, cows, chickens, turkeys, etc, which have babies that can stand up and move around on the first day, and cats, dogs, rabbits, etc whose babies are born completely helpless, and with their eyes closed.  It will be 10 more days or so before these little bunnies will open their eyes and start to emerge from deep within their nest.  I explained to the class how hormones create changes in animals' bodies, including ours.  After giving examples such as the effect of growth hormone, I explained that the rabbit's hormones change in the days before her kindling (birth).  One of the changes that occurs from the change is that her hair loosens, making it easy for her to pull out.  The mother bunny pulls her fur and uses it to create a very warm nest for her young.  I can't wait for the babies to grow, so I can introduce them to the class!

After our bunny lesson, we talked about the eggs that are in the incubator.  They are at day 13 today.  We reviewed embryo development, and talked about the differences between the chicken eggs and the turkey and guinea eggs that are also incubating.  (It takes an extra week for guinea keets and turkey poults to hatch.)

The students and I discussed their decision-making worksheet, which they finished at home.  We went through many of them, discussing positive and negative consequences of each of their alternatives, or choices.  This led to some excellent discussions!  The students brought up the fact that some problems have more than two choices.  We talked about coming up with creative solutions, and compromises.  At one point, someone voiced that he didn't understand why some people make the bad choices that they do.  This was an awesome opportunity to tie in our lessons of self-esteem and goal-setting to the ability to weigh consequences and make healthy decisions.  The health teacher in me was dancing for joy!

After checking their journal work, the class was able to finally take a peek inside these eggs.  I taught them how to "candle" the eggs, which is simply using a bright flashlight in a dark space to see the shadow of the embryo inside the egg.  This candling session went extremely well!  They were able to clearly see the blood vessels, air sacs, little squirming embryos, and even a tiny foot!  The eggs should hatch next week.  Hopefully they will be on time and we can see them hatch in class!

Spanish-  In Spanish class, the students are working on restaurant skits.  Their creativity is pumping!  Each group finished up their menus, continued to work on their scripts, and made lists of props they will need.  They are very excited about this project!  I love it!


Art-  In art class, Ms. Nancy helped the students finish up their weaving project.  They worked to create different patterns, which didn't look easy!