Over the last few weeks, first graders at Upland Heights Elementary have been learning about the life cycle. As a part of this lesson plan, the students are excitedly watching baby chicks grow and then hatch right there in the classroom.  

“Growing life in the classroom is a miracle that we all get to observe,” said Grace Maldonado, first grade teacher at Upland Heights. “It perfectly matches the life cycle and being able to observe life being made is an engaging memory we are creating for our students.” 

It takes around 21 days to incubate the eggs and for the chicks to grow enough to hatch. Throughout this time, the students have been adamant about making sure the chicks are healthy. They remind each other to stay quiet for the chicks and to make sure they are not disrupting the incubator. 

The incubators are held in Grace Maldonado, Abbi Reckner, and Claire Rucker's rooms. All the students get to observe what is happening. Each teacher is paired with the teacher across the hall, so everyone has a chance to observe the chicks. 

Much to the students' enjoyment, each class got to hold a light under the eggs so that they could see the chicks inside the eggs moving and developing. On Monday, the first chick surprised the class when they came to school that morning as it happily announced its presence to the arriving students.  

Danielle Duffield, the Upland Heights Nurse and Hannah Tisdale, Claire Rucker's sister, donated the eggs and will be keeping the chicks after they have all hatched.