Incubation and Embryology - University of Illinois
- Grades 4-6
Things to Learn
Things to Do
| Know parts of the egg
- Break open an egg and point out major parts.
- Draw an egg and label egg parts.
- Describe which parts of the egg we eat.
- Explain why the eggs from the grocery store are not fertile.
| Know parts of the embryo
- Draw an embryo and label parts.
- Tell what each part does.
- Tell how a chick gets its food while growing in the egg.
- With your friends, draw a poster showing how a chick develops
from fertilization to hatching.
- Create a collage or poster on hatching chicks.
| Know how to operate an incubator during
- Describe the functions of the hen.
- Describe the function of the incubator.
- Compare the hen and the incubator by explaining what they each
provide for the egg and how.
- Prepare an incubator for eggs.
- Read a thermometer.
- Set the thermostat to the correct temperature.
- Turn the eggs three times a day.
- Write down the number of eggs you expect will hatch.
| Understand changes that occur during
- Candle eggs each day during incubation beginning at Day 3.
- Break out one egg on the third, sixth, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth
and eighteenth days.
- Observe and discuss the changes you see in the broken- out embryos.
- Discuss the major changes you see and decide which changes are
| How nutrition affects living things
- Write a list of things that would be good for a chick to eat.
- What are some things that would not be good to eat and why?
- Compare this list to things that are good for you to eat.
- Describe how a chick lives and eats while still an embryo in
- Draw the food pyramid showing the basic foods that children need.
Try to eat one of each basic food every day and see how your body
| Keeping records
- Keep a record of how many eggs were set, how many eggs were broken-out
for study and how many eggs hatched.
- Use My 4-H Record. Keep a record of incubator temperature and
humidity each time the eggs are turned.
- Keep a record of the weather, the high and low temperatures each
day that the eggs are in the incubator. Record any unusual weather
conditions, problems, etc.
- Write word problems about hatching and incubation.
| New vocabulary
- Start a library with books and magazines about eggs, chicks and