Spring is in the air, and eggs are in the incubators! All seven 2nd-grade classes at Hayesville Primary School recently participated in the 4-H Embryology School Enrichment Program, successfully hatching chicks right in their classrooms.

As part of their life cycle curriculum, the teachers provided students with hands-on learning experiences—setting eggs in incubators and patiently waiting the 21 days for them to hatch. Throughout the waiting period, students engaged in various activities to deepen their understanding of animal life cycles. These included using the national 4-H Embryology Curriculum as well as creative classroom experiments like:

• Cracking open eggs to examine the different parts
• Learning what each part develops into during incubation
• Comparing fertile and non-fertile eggs
• Candling eggs to observe embryo development
• Completing worksheets and interactive activities
• Watching educational videos

Each classroom successfully hatched chicks, and the excitement was contagious! Students loved reporting how many chicks had hatched each time I visited. The Embryology Program offers a fun, educational approach to teaching required science standards—and students take away lasting knowledge from the experience.

Who knows what we’ll “hatch” into next?

For more information about the Clay County 4-H program or school enrichment opportunities, please contact local 4-H Agent Kiffney Stokes at 828-389-6305 or email kiffney.stokes@ncsu.edu.