Incubators in the Classroom - Johnson County
Incubators in the Classroom is geared toward 4th graders, though the other grades may also take advantage of this opportunity. An incubator and fertilized chicken eggs are placed in the classroom two days prior to hatching, allowing the children to experience one miracle of agriculture. The live chicks remain in the classroom for two more days after hatching.
The week-long program is designed to be integrated into the regular school curriculum. Past participating teachers have utilized the Incubators in the Classroom to talk about nutrition, animal development, agriculture, etc. with their students. If the teacher desires, David Smith, the Agriculture/Natural Resources Extension Educator, is available to come talk with the children about chickens, embryo development, and production agriculture.
The Incubators in the Classroom program is made possible through the Purdue Extension Office/Johnson County in Franklin, the Johnson County Farm Bureau, Inc., and Mickey LaTour, Purdue Poultry Specialist and program innovator.
Possible Topics to Cover Using the Incubators in the Classroom Program:
- Mathematics
- Language Arts/English
- Social Studies
- Character Education
- Death and Grieving
- Science
Teacher's Responsibilities:
While using this incubation project, there are endless opportunities you could choose to explore. You could do countless things inside your classroom to help your students fully understand what is happening before their eyes. In order for this miracle of life to occur, there are things that must happen every day.The teacher:
- Makes arrangements with a parent volunteer or someone else to pick up the fertilized eggs from Purdue's Poultry Farm near West Lafayette.
- Maintains incubation conditions (i.e. temperature and humidity) within the incubator.
- Returns the incubator to the Extension Office, cleaned and in good condition.
- Notifies the Extension Office at least 30 days prior to the delivery in order to ensure the eggs' fertilization and incubator availability unless other arrangements have been made.
- Finds a good home for the chicks after they are hatched. It is recommended that the students not take one home.
If you are interested in including the Incubators in the Classroom program in your curriculum, please contact David Smith at the Johnson County Extension Office by phone at 317/ 736-3724 or by e-mail. Once you have expressed interest, David will contact you to finalize program dates and incubator delivery times.
Thank you for your interest in the Incubators in the Classroom program. We look forward to working with you and your students throughout the school year.
Lesson Plans, Activities, and Coloring Pages
- About Chickens
- Make Mine Turkey Lesson
- Racing Roosters Lesson
- University of Illinois Incubator Lessons and Worksheets
- Pecking Out Ratios Lesson and Activity
- Chicken Cube
- Farm Animals Coloring Page
- Student Worksheets and Keys
- Animals From Eggs booklet (suitable for pre-K)
- What's Inside? booklet (suitable for pre-K)
- The Incredible Journey from Hen to Home by the American Egg Board
- Beginnings of Life, a booklet from Virginia Tech
- Embryology: A Closer Look (a PowerPoint presentation saved as a .pdf)
- University of Illinois Ag Magazine
Teacher Resource Links
Incubation and Embryology
- University of Illinois Extension Incubation & Embryology Resource Website
- Purdue University AvianNet Website
- Embryology in the Classroom Teacher Resource Site
Agriculture Facts and Information
- Agriculture in the Classroom
- Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
- Ohio Ag in the Classroom
- Pennsylvania Ag in the Classroom
- National Agriculture Day
- Indiana Ag Extravaganza
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA for Kids
