By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Second-graders at Union City Elementary School have learned firsthand which came first in the chicken-or-the-egg debate.
Four of the 24 chick eggs of various breeds that have been housed in a school incubator the last couple of weeks have produced chickens in Kristen Parks’ class.
Students have been delighted to watch the process, which has been part of the knowledge and understanding of life cycles in the UCES Knowledge unit of CKLA.
The newly-born baby chicks are all doing well and growing fast, according to Parks, who will ultimately house them at her home where she has a coop and other adult chickens. UCES Educational Assistant Joan Slusser provided the eggs for the project.
The project was largely made possible by a donation of the incubator through Tyson Foods as part of the DonorsChoose program.
Parks said she uses the group’s latest project with the chicks as an incentive for good behavior in her three classes.
“The students were thrilled to witness the process, but I don’t let them hold the chicks every day — mainly because of the age of the chickens,” she claimed. “Instead, I’m using that as a treat for them when they have good behavior.
“If they get a Tornado ticket for excellent behavior and participation in my class, then they get to hold a baby chick for a few minutes.”
Parks said she’s now hopeful of getting some quail eggs to hatch in a similar process for a future project and is currently researching which batch of eggs produce the best.
It’ll truly be another lesson in the old adage of ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch.’