When it comes to Community Based Service Learning (CBSL) projects, often times, members of the community are more than willing to contribute. That was one of the discoveries Belle Anse Elementary School teacher Marissa McCallum had during her CBSL project, Chick Hatching.

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She received chicken eggs from a local farm, which her Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Primary Cycle One and Two students were able to see hatch right in their classroom. The students witnessed the process starting from 48 hours before hatching up until the baby chicks were ready to go back to the farm. Along the way, students learned about the life cycle of the chicks and how to take care of them.

Through the celebration and education of the students’ local heritage, environment and community, Ms. McCallum witnessed a great deal of engagement and learning from her 14 students. “They learned about an aspect of our town they are not fully aware of,” comments Ms. McCallum. She also says with the help of the nearby farm, students were about to see what can be done, and is available, locally. “They also learned about the life cycle of an animal that they are not familiar with on a daily basis and how this animal is used.”

There are a lot of resources and lesson plans to help teachers bring this unique experience into their school.  You might want to start with a document from Nova Scotia entitled Egg-ricultural Egg-periences.