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May Chicks in the School Garden

Students at Clay Elementary were excited to spend time watching over baby chicks this week – and learning about life cycles as they did so.

Discovering Life Cycles

Spring in the school garden means new growth and discoveries! While the students are busy noticing changes in the garden, special visitors have arrived at Clay Elementary to teach the students about life cycles. Gateway Greening partners with University of Missouri Extension, Jefferson County, to provide chicken eggs and incubators to the Clay Elementary preschool, kindergarten, and second grade classrooms.

  Incubating Chicks in the Classroom

During the first week the incubators were kept in the classroom, where students expectantly monitored and turned the eggs three times a day. They observed that the incubators kept the chicken eggs at a toasty 98 degrees and watched videos to learn how the embryo changes inside of the egg. The kindergarteners even learned that the yolk sac gives the embryo nourishment to grow, just like the seed provides food for a plant embryo in the garden.

Student at Clay Elementary carefully holding a newly hatched chick – part of a hands-on lesson in life cycles.

The following monday, real excitement began in the incubators! The second graders’ chicks were ambitious, with one chick fully hatching before the students arrived at school. Throughout the day the second grade’s eggs continued to hatch until they had ten cheeping chicks. The preschoolers and kindergarteners were disappointed. No chicks had hatched in their classrooms, not even a crack had appeared.

The next day, the preschoolers and kindergarteners nervously checked their eggs – and cracks had started on a few of the eggs! The egg tooth, the part of the beak that helps a chick break open its egg, was even visible in a few of the cracks. Throughout the day, the preschoolers and kindergarteners observed as more eggs cracked and chicks appeared. They were worried when the chicks looked wet and sticky, but under the warm incubator lights the chicks quickly dried out until they were fluffy and yellow.

When the chicks fully dried out, they were carefully moved into a bigger box while the students eagerly monitored the chicks and listened to their “cheeps” to figure out if they were content in their new home. Finally, the students learned how to gently and safely handle the chicks. Happily, the chicks were as soft as they looked!

  What happens next?

In the coming week, Clay Elementary students will observe how the chicks rapidly grow. The second graders are measuring and weighing the chicks, and the kindergarteners and preschoolers are studying what chicks need to survive. Before the end of the school year, full grown chickens will visit, so students can see just how much chickens change over their life cycle.

Written by Lucy Herleth, Gateway Greening Youth Educator

Looking for more ways to incorporate the school garden into your lesson plan? Stop by:

Gateway Greening’s Youth Garden Institute page to explore monthly workshops that address the challenges and opportunities represented by teaching in school gardens

The Gateway Greening Educators Facebook group to connect with other teachers throughout St. Louis with similar interests in school gardens

Check out our In the School Garden Youtube playlist for short, actionable how-to videos that are seasonally relevant.

The post May Chicks in the School Garden appeared first on Gateway Greening.

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Find out Exactly how to Clean Gutters Out

Rain gutter cleansing and the cleansing of downspouts suggest much more work than simply making sure the exterior of your home looks great. The finest times to do seamless gutter cleansing would be in late spring and or late fall.

You need to keep in mind that rain gutter cleansing is much more than simply washing it through with a hose pipe. You need to not go ahead without the seamless gutter cleansing simply due to the fact that you do not have the tools either. Prior to you choose on going through with your spring or fall seamless gutter cleansing program, guarantee you have a list of all the tools needed.

A detailed guide to seamless gutter cleansing would be an excellent concept, best about now. It is best to start near the downspout and the work on away from it in order to stop putting more particles into the downspout throughout your seamless gutter cleansing.

After that ensure you established the ladder on a level location. If you do require a container up there while you are doing your rain gutter cleansing, connect it ahead of time to the ladder. If not, the ensure you have some sort of receptacle to gather the particles, that method you would not need to sweep the entire yard later on!

It is vital that you have a set of work gloves when you do seamless gutter cleansing. Start at the downspout and utilize a scoop to scoop out all the big particles in the corner.

If the downspout is obstructed, you will have to clear it. To do this, start with the simplest alternative, utilizing the hose pipe to direct water into the downspout from the bottom end in order to require up the clogged up particles. If that does not work then you are going to need to purchase or obtain a plumbing's snake.

Utilize these techniques to clear all the downspouts throughout your rain gutter cleansing.

Examine the seamless gutters and downspouts for indications of damage after you have actually washed all the particles away. Things like holes, fractures or damages will have a damaging impact on the conservation and security of your home so ensure you fix them, or if you desire, ask assistance from somebody who understands the best ways to.

Lastly ensure you deal with the particles appropriately and with care by covering them in trash can or including them to your compost pile.

Moe tips here: https://goo.gl/wjEvLM