Science
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Look Who's Hatching!!!

Below you will find several Science activities. I hope you are fortunate enough to have the stuff for incubating eggs!

Incubator Activities
Check the yellow pages of your telephone book to see if any hatcheries are located in your area!

Calendar Count

You will need the following materials:

incubator fertile chicken eggs empty calendar grid 8 1/2 X 11 paper calendar for each child to take home construction paper eggs sized to fit empty calendar grid (put "Day 1" "Day 2", etc. on each egg, go to "Day 21") (Day 21 should show a crack in the egg)

  1. Next to your regular calendar, hang another empty calendar grid.
  2. As you show the children the fertilized eggs, tell them it takes 21 days to hatch.
  3. Ask the children to help count out 21 Unifix cubes.
  4. Ask the children to find the day on the blank calendar that is the same day as today.
  5. Place the number one egg face down on the "today" space.
  6. Ask your children to help figure which space will be used on day twenty-one.
  7. Discuss different strategies that could be used to figure out day twenty-one.
  8. After the discussion, choose some of their strategies and work together to find the space for day twenty-one.
  9. Mark that space with the "Day 21" egg face down.
  10. Check to see if the strategy worked by hanging up eggs "Day2" through "Day 20".

Weighing the Eggs

You will need the following:

developing chick eggs balance scale metal washers to be used as weights unifix cubes chart paper

  1. Ask your children if they have any idea how one might tell if there are chicks growing inside the egg.
  2. Listen to ideas and record these ideas on a chart. Help the children by asking what happens as they grow (they get bigger, they weigh more, etc.)
  3. Since they can't see if the chicks are getting bigger, you must weigh the eggs.
  4. Choose a counting pattern, for example, skip counting by 3's, 3, 6, 9.
  5. Mark those eggs on the calendar with a gold star.
  6. As each of the days come up, carefully remove two eggs and weigh them in the balancing scale. Use the metal washes for the balance.
  7. See how much the eggs weigh each time. Note* Be sure to use the same two eggs each time for weighing.
  8. Keep a record of the weights by making a unifix cube graph. You will find that the eggs' weight does not change considerably over time, but this fact can trigger a lot of discussion and speculation from the children!

Weighing the Chicks

You will need the following materials:

chick pan balance weights

  1. When the eggs have hatched and the chicks have had a few days to rest and dry out, choose a chick to weigh.
  2. Use a pan balance. Weigh the chick carefully in one side and place the washers in the other side.
  3. Make a chart story about the weight of the chick.
  4. Remove the chick.
  5. Ask children to look around the room to find objects that may balance the chick.
  6. Test these objects to see if they do, in fact, balance the chick.
  7. Have a box labeled "weighs the same as the chick" in which they place all the objects that did balance.
  8. After everyone has had a chance to explore the problem, take the box and share everyone's find with the class.
  9. Begin a "Same Weight as the Chick" Big Book by writing on each page as articles are checked, for instance, "20 unifix cubes are the same as the chick".
  10. Let the children illustrate the pages.
    "Eggs"ploration
    Comparing Eggs

    You will need the following materials:

    raw egg hard-boiled egg bowl Egg Exploration worksheet

    1. Provide one egg for each child (plus a few extra eggs) and hard-boil half the eggs.
    2. Use a pencil to write "1" on the raw eggs and "2" on the hard-boiled eggs. Do not tell the children what the numbers mean.
    3. Have the students work in pairs. Give each pair one raw egg and one hard-boiled egg, a small bowl, two pencils, and two copies of the Egg Exploration worksheet.
    4. Have the students use observation and deduction skills to complete the activity sheet. Caution the children to work carefully and gently with the eggs.

    The Spin Test
    A hard boiled egg will spin longer and faster than a raw egg because the loose liquid in the raw egg acts as a brake.

    1. Make predictions about which will spin faster, a raw or hard-boiled egg.
    2. Make a chart of the childrens responses. (I like to make this into a graph)
    3. Check out the predictions.

      The Floating Egg
      A fresh raw egg will sink to the bottom of a cup. A very rotten egg will float.

      1. Make predictions about which will float, a fresh raw or a rotten egg.
      2. Make a chart of the childrens responses. (I like to make this into a graph)
      3. Dissolve about ten teaspoons of salt in 1 1/2 - 2 cups of water.
      4. Check out the predictions using the dissolved salt and water.

        Dyeing Eggs
        Use natural products to make egg dye. Beets-deep red, onions-yellow (add soda to make it bright yellow), cranberries-light red, spinach leaves-green, and blackberries-blue.

        1. To make dyed eggs, pick two or three colors from the list. Boil the fruit or vegetable in small amounts of water.
        2. Let the children put a cool har-boiled egg into a nylon stocking and dip it into the dye.
        3. Keep the egg in the dye for several minutes.
        4. Pull out the nylon and check the color.
        5. If it is dark enough, place the egg on a paper towel to dry.
        6. If children want to color the eggs before dyeing, show the children how wax keeps liquid from getting on the egg.

          Rubber Eggs
          Soak a raw egg in vinegar to take the calcium out of the eggshell. It will feel like rubber and you can see through it to the inside!

          Magic Egg
          Get the egg inside the bottle. The egg must be hard-boiled and peeled. Place the egg in the opening. Burn paper in the bottom; the egg will slip in! Blow into the bottle to pop the egg out!

          Great Egg Related Literature!