As students remain at home for the remainder of the month, many learning opportunities have been moved to digital delivery. Melanie Bruck, the Education Program Coordinator with Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom has recently reported a chick hatching experience for Kuemper Catholic School System students did just that. Since the incubators needed to be closely monitored and water was to be added every few days, Bruck moved them to her home and office and delivered the lessons and updates via Facebook. Every day, she showed students the plastic egg model from a chick life cycle kit as the eggs go through the 21-day hatching cycle. Bruck taught the young students the eggs in the incubator are kept at 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit and turned approximately every 45 minutes. She has even brought in one of the brooding hens to show students the soft down feathers on the underside of the bird used to keep her clutch of eggs safe and warm. And even though first-hand, classroom experience is preferred, Bruck reports the posts were viewed more than 3,000 times and by students from as far away as California, Oklahoma, Washington and Florida.
