DELAVAN, Wis. — Some students at Turtle Creek Elementary in Walworth County are getting a unique opportunity to raise baby ducklings and chicks in class.
It’s part of the Eggsploring Incubation 4-H Science Lab.
In Lisa Seitz’s second grade class, a science project hatched three duck eggs. After they hatched, Seitz let the students hold the ducklings.
“I generally take the duck eggs because they require more interaction and it pretty much gives my classroom a chance to see real science,” said Seitz.
Seitz said they incubated the eggs for several weeks and created graphs to chart the growth cycle.
“Kids get so much more out of it,” said Seitz. “It’s that memory. It’s that physicality of actually touching these ducks and these chicks after seeing them in an egg. Knowing what an incubator is, knowing how to process what that is and all of their writing and their reading will be interconnected with that.”
Turtle Creek Elementary student Colton Warren said they had to take extra care of the duck eggs.
“We had to spray them with water and turn the eggs around,” said Warren.
His classmate Teagan Nowman said it was also interesting to see how the membrane is vital for the ducks to hatch.
“An egg and a seed is kind of similar because the seed has a membrane too,” said Nowman. “It’s like guiding around the seed.”
Navaeh Williams, also a Turtle Creek Elementary student, said she likes to hold the ducks.
“That they feel really fuzzy and really soft,” said Williams.
Seitz said it’s also important for the students to see the eggs that didn’t hatch.
“It might be hard to see but they will notice, where did it stop growing and what might have happened and those are things we cannot control,” said Seitz. “We are not ducks. We are just trying our best with an incubator.”
These ducks and chickens will eventually be brought to families, but while they are in Turtle Creek Elementary, Seitz said she hopes her students learn about the value of life.