'ChickQuest': Lessons hatch in front of kindergartners' eyes

GENOA — Christine Reeder’s kindergarten class at Genoa Elementary School had some very special visitors this spring who arrived encased in little oval homes.

Amy Michaels, an Ottawa County 4-H program assistant, delivered two dozen eggs and an incubator, provided by the Ohio State University, to Reeder’s class on April 25.

Once she left, it was up to Reeder and her kindergarten students to help the chicks hatch.

Michaels and Ottawa County 4-H Youth Development Educator Molly Avers delivered eggs to several classrooms at Genoa Elementary, Bataan Elementary in Port Clinton and R.C. Waters Elementary in Oak Harbor.

OSU's ChickQuest program is designed to bring hands-on STEM lessons relating to the life cycle into the classroom. The students watch the process of chick development inside the egg and out.

Lesson develops right in front of pupils

“ChickQuest helps bring an agricultural experience into the classroom, and it goes along with learning standards,” Michaels said. “They learn about embryology and the life cycle. This is a good add-on lesson, because it develops right before their eyes.”

Reeder said her students learned many lessons about hatching chicks, including the importance of humidity levels and temperature and the physiology of newborn chicks, such as the warm down that covers their little bodies.

Student Finnegan Williams said he learned that chicks have an egg-tooth to help them break through the shell.

“They have to wait until they’re dry because their heads are so heavy,” said student Eli Claar.

Reeder said the class had some exciting moments when they could hear peeping from inside unhatched eggs.

“They hatched, and now they’re one day old,” said student Jackson Ruedy.

Chicks become too big for classroom

Student A.J. Pennington said it takes 21 days from the day the eggs arrive and are placed in the incubator to the day the chicks are too big to stay in the classroom.

“When they get old, they can fly, but not high,” said student Henry Rice.

The students weren’t the only ones who learned science from the program. Although ChickQuest has been offered in Ottawa County schools for several years, this was the first time Michaels and Avers were involved.

“We learned a lot through the program,” Michaels said. “We learned how much temperature matters and humidity matters. There’s a lot of upper-level science.”

In the midst of all that learning was a lot of fun. Now that the chicks have hatched, Reeder’s classroom is filled with the constant soft chirping of newborn chicks, and the students each had the opportunity to hold a life that formed just a few feet from their desks.

'Such a rich experience for the students'

“Holding them is my favorite part,” said student Shae Suckle.

Reeder has welcomed the ChickQuest program to her classroom for several years.

“It’s something I definitely do every year because it’s such a rich experience for the students,” she said. “A lot of kids just don’t get a chance to experience watching chicks hatch.”

This year’s class was particularly engaged in the project.

“These kids are super excited about anything science. They love anything hands-on, and there are a lot of animal lovers in here,” Reeder said. “This will be a great memory for them from kindergarten.”

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: 'ChickQuest': Life cycle lessons hatch in front of pupils' eyes