Not everyone has a successful experiment (week 7)

As a teacher, there are going to be successes and there are going to be errors that can ruin a project. This week I had the worse experience with the embryology project. Everyone was excited for the eggs to hatch. They were all due on Wednesday. One chick hatched. He was a lone survivor in a sea of 23 other eggs.... And then he died within a matter of hours. The class and I had patiently waited over the next two days, but nothing happened.

Instead of just throwing the eggs out, I candled them Thursday night. There was nothing inside them. Some had begun to grow, but they died within the first two weeks of incubation. So I had all these incubated eggs and no chicks. As part of the learning experience, I wanted them to candle and crack the eggs. Two of the 10 eggs they cracked were in the beginning stages of incubation. They died within the first two weeks. The kids got to see the half grown embryo. It was a great learning experience.

This week I learned to take a failed experience and turned it around to be a great learning experience. The kids learned more from this than they could have if all the chicks had hatched.

Mohawk was chosen by a local farmer to obtain a $2,500 grant through Monsanto. The students spent some time after school meeting with the local farmer and Monsanto representative. With this grant, they are going to buy some Ipad minis. These Ipads will allow students to use apps and the internet to look up technical manuals and other materials for shop classes.

Some other things we had done this week was attend meet your state officer night at Hoss's. We also took the square dance team to Challenges to entertain and teach square dancing to elderly people. Stay tuned for next week were we begin planting in the greenhouse and our trip to SLLC!

Until next week,
Ms. Yoest