My students live in a concrete jungle, unconnected from nature, natural life processes and the food they eat.
My students live in the inner city.
They come from low income households with a wide diversity of backgrounds. They walk on concrete, play on metal play structures and the only animals they know are the few who have a dog or cat.
They are unconnected from the natural world as well as unaware of where our food supply comes from and how it is grown. They don't play in dirt, don't look for 'creepy crawlies' and some don't even realize the eggs we eat come from chickens!
My Project
To help teach the life science standard of life cycles and embryology, I would love for my students to have the opportunity to watch and care for a chicken from egg to chick.
The wonder of watching life unfold is something none of my students have had the opportunity to observe. This makes teaching life cycles and life stages very difficult; the students find it boring and irrelevant because they have no prior knowledge to connect their learning to.
Having an incubator to hatch chickens will open up whole new discussions, ideas and worlds for my students.
Students will also be able to connect this to math, as we chart growth, days to incubation, food consumed and so many other things. They can connect it to literacy as they write in their daily observation log and read on the care and handling of eggs and chicks.
This will make learning literally come alive for my students.
We are moving toward a future where the majority of people are disconnected from nature.
This can have devastating consequences. I am hoping to combat this in a small way by giving the gift of watching and caring for another creature; from embryo to birth to chickhood.
This is an experience they will never forget. It is only a baby step, but it will grow into something great!
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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 Ms. Ezenwaka and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.