You could say that Miss Karly Marshman’s agriculture classes at Camden Middle School had a bit of an egg-stravaganza recently.
All puns aside, the class had the fortune of celebrating its first-ever “Chick Week” from March 20th to March 24th. “Chick Week” was a week-long investigative unit about the growth and development of baby chickens.
Seventh grade students learned about poultry farms, the anatomy of an egg, chicken embryo development, breeds of chicken, and of course, they got to care for a group of wonderful baby chicks in class!
The chicks were brought into the classroom via a student request. Student Matthew Albrecht demonstrated an interest in raising and showing poultry at the upcoming Boonville-Oneida County Fair. With Marshman’s help, five baby chicks from the Silkie breed were brought into the classroom.
Students will help care for the chicks until spring break, when they will find their permanent home with Albrecht.
Among the fascinating activities the students took part in was their egg dissection exercise. In this component of the unit, pairs of students carefully dissected a chicken egg and learned that there is significantly more than meets the eye to these incredible, but often-overlooked structures that generally find their way to our refrigerators.
For Marshman, it’s all about educating students on the industry, and just how much has to come together for an egg, or a chicken, to make its way to market.
“As future consumers I hope all agriculture students learn about where the eggs in the store come from and where their chicken comes from as well,” Marshman said. “This "Chick Week" will educate Camden Middle School students to become more knowledgeable members of society and consumers.”
No matter how you see the old chicken vs. egg debate, the argument can be made that in this instance, it was the students who came first.
