Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Educational Opportunities

~Exploring an egg without a shell.

 

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Our chickens left us an oddity.  An interesting, amazing oddity.  It made us curious.

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An egg without a shell.

How did that happen? 

We decided to investigate.

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The egg felt rubbery, like a water balloon.  It was soft and surprisingly hard to break.

What could be inside?

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We carefully opened the membrane.

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Our egg was perfectly formed inside the membrane.  Why did this happen?

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The membrane was fun to play with.  It felt like rubbery paper, tough but very slippery.

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Now for some research!

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We found some really cool stuff!

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We found the above picture on a great website that explained how eggs are formed.  They are eggs from a hen they butchered.  I love how the different stages are represented so well.  Click on the picture to be taken to the website for more.

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We finished our lesson by drawing and labeling the different parts of an egg.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to explore with the kids.  Obviously, this was not the lesson I had planned for today.  I’m thankful that my state allows such freedom and flexibility for homeschoolers.  We learned so much today, thanks to our little mistaken egg.

 

~Many thanks to Mary for helping put this post together.  She chose, edited, and watermarked all the pictures in this post.  She also helped me with the descriptions of the eggs.  She’s had a very full school day and we haven’t even sat in a desk!  :)

7 comments:

  1. Oh the joys of "farm" life! When I was a kid we had chickens "runnin' loose" on our farm. (Called "free range" today) One day I was up in the loft throwing down bales when I looked up at the barn beam just overhead where some chickens were roosting. One hen was facing away from me and I could see that she was laying and egg! I just reached up and cupped my hand under her with out touching her and she laid it right in my hand. That surprised me enough but then I realized it was soft-shelled just like the one you guys "explored". Thanks for bringing back that memory for me with your post.
    Dan

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  2. I must admit I am jealous of your "classwork" today. Somedays I wish we had tried things differently around here.

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  3. I had chickens when I was a girl. I remember the occasional soft shelled eggs.

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  4. WOW! That is an exceptional lesson! I love days like those too, and I always think to myself how fortunate we are to be able to homeschool our lovies on those days.

    BTW, I responded to your thoughtful comment on my blog. Thank you so much for the compliment too. I am really glad we found each other. Truly! :)

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  5. Awesome teachable moment!!!

    I don't know much about having chickens, but I would love to learn!

    http://weddedmommybliss.blogspot.com/

    BTW...still hoping for your follow... :)

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  6. Fatima,
    Thanks for the follow! I do love your blog and I'm hoping to send you some love this week!

    I am doing my first giveaway (Oy....I hope I got all of the rules right) and I decided to make following your blog one of the ways to get additional entries! Honestly, for no other reason then...I love you blog and I think we have a lot in common.

    I wanted to let you know so you could check out the post.

    http://weddedmommybliss.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-first-giveaway.html

    Have an awesome day!

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  7. We found an egg like that too! But I never thought to do some egg research!

    I remember butchering old hens when I was a girls and finding eggs in all stages of development.

    You did a great job in including your children.
    Gina

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