Day Two for the Little Guy!

I was eager to see what would await me in the incubator this morning!  No new ducklings, but you can see movement in a couple of the eggs!  The little duckling moved the eggs all around in the incubator, but they all seem fine!

The little duckling likes its new home in the brooder!
There's water, food and warmth from the light.

This cute little duckling sometimes gets so tired,
it just falls asleep wherever it is!

Awww, so cute!

Look at my duck feet!

Checking out the science room!

Somebody had a very busy day!

Surprise!!

Today is day 25 of the eggs in the incubator.  It's a big day!  I take the egg turner out of the incubator and lay the eggs directly on the bottom of the incubator raise the humidity level to help the ducklings not stick to the egg shell when they are trying to get out!

 When I arrived in the classroom and peaked into the incubator, what should I see? A DUCKLING!

I was worried that maybe the little duckling was injured trying to get free from the turner....

but all looks good!  It's "cheeping" and waddling and sleeping!

The egg the duckling hatched from!
Nice and neat!

The cutest little thing ever!

Now we all wait for the other ducklings to hatch!

What's the Weather Like Today?

Now that we know how to read a thermometer, outside we go to our school garden!  We take the temperature and then check the sky.  Is it partly cloudy or overcast, rainy or drizzling, breezy or windy?

Kindergarten Observes Caterpillars!

We have been watching the very, very small caterpillars eat and eat and then grow and grow!

Little caterpillars in little containers.

This is a cocoon from a silkworm. Some of the classes
wondered how a cocoon is different from a chrysalis. 

It's eating!

It's got hairs on it!

It's eating upside down.

Mine is walking on the top of the container and it's not falling.

Look at it move!

2nd Grade Explores the world of Plants!

2nd graders have started their new unit on plants by making detailed observations on 5 different plants!  They used their senses to help them describe the plants.  They also remembered that properties are a way to sort and categorize different objects including plants!

The leaves feel rubbery and watery comes out when you squeeze it.

Would a fruit fly get trapped in the venus fly trap?

The tallest plant we looked at.

The leaves are almost furry!  And it smells good!

Can it bite my finger?

It's lavender!

So prickly. We were surprised to find
out the spikes are the cactus's leaves!

This plant is the only one that has a hairy stem.

One of the pitcher plant leaves has
 a fly dangling right in front of it!

The Duck Eggs Are Half Way There!

It's hard to believe that our duck eggs will hatch in just 13 more days - around June 2nd!  So far, everything looks good.  We have all 8 eggs still growing.  This week we checked their growth by "candling" the eggs.  This is done by putting a bright light on the egg and seeing how the egg looks inside!

Carefully an egg is chosen to see how it is growing.

The flashlight is placed right on the egg.

Right under the light is the air sac.  The lines are veins.
All good signs for this egg!

In this egg you can see the embryo at the bottom of the egg!

This egg I'm not too sure about.  No veins.
We'll have to wait and see!

Nurse Jessica came by to see if she could hear the duck's heart beat, but she couldn't.  She said she would need a different type of stethoscope.

Whenever we get a chance, we take a quick peak at the incubator to see if anything is happening!

Our counting calendar!  The blue star is when the eggs come out of the egg turner.
The black egg is the hatch date!

This is what our ducklings will look like!