We love to be hands-on in our Science classroom. My students live in a culturally diverse, low socioeconomic farming community. 100% of my students receive free meals. I have many students who have special needs that integrate into my class first through this project because it interests them enough to want to come to my class.
Many of my students have a language barrier and we like to push through that barrier with labs that are hands-on and help students to be actively engaged.
Even with limited language skills, all students are able to be involved in this activity.
My Project
My 6th-grade class hatches out chicks from an incubator in our Life Science unit on Cells and Body Systems each year. Every student "adopts" their baby for the school year. We chart heights and weights along with detailed observations for 3 months. In the spring, we get to use the eggs from their chickens to learn some basic cooking. Extra chickens are donated to Military Veterans in the community as our service project. We love to be hands-on in our classroom, so this gives students a chance to do just that.
Not only do students get the regular science content, but they also develop compassion, empathy, and cleanliness for an animal that relies on them alone.
Many times, it is their favorite class because they can visually see and physically touch science. Some students have never had a pet or haven't held a chick!
Science is often the first class that students with special needs integrate into because we can work on many levels at once to accommodate learning abilities. This has proved to be immensely beneficial to all students to desire to come to class.
This is not just a one-time investment for my class; this will give our school years of lessons. Thanks!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Bretney and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
