Nature Crafts– The students continue to take pride and use creativity to collect, plan and create a craft using items found in nature.
Hatching Chickens– We started with 14 eggs that started to develop in our incubator. The eggs were kept at around 37.5 degrees and, using a rotating tray, were constantly and slowly turned throughout the 21 days of incubation. Turning the eggs keeps the chick from growing attached to the inside of the egg. We learned that the chick feeds off the yolk inside the egg, as it grows. When it is ready to hatch from the egg, a chick uses a egg tooth (a temporary bump on the beak) to poke through the inner air sac and it takes its first breath. The chick chips away at the shell in a circle, eventually pushing the top off.
We ended up having 9 chicks hatch and are unsure as to why the other 5 did not hatch.
Many of the students enjoyed holding the chicks and letting them run around on the floor. The chicks got more relaxed as the students held them more. The chicks have now been taken back to the farm where I first received the eggs from.
Making LED cards-We welcomed a scientist from SCWIST (The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology) who first taught us a little bit about electricity and the movement of electrons through circuits, or paths. The students then created a circuit using copper tape, attached a LED light and created a way to turn the light on and off by allowing the circuit to be broken.
Salmon Release- After over 110 days of raising our chum salmon from eyed egg to alevin to fry, it was time to release them into Beecher Creek. The fry will stay in the creek for a few months, grow bigger and then begin their long journey down to the estuary (Fraser River and Pacific Ocean). In the estuary their bodies will change, allowing them to move from fresh water to salt water. Then they will head out the ocean to live a few years, before heading back to the estuary, and eventually to the creek, where they will lay eggs and fertilize eggs.
IMG_6550 
The LAST ONE! 
Salmon fry in bucket
And what do you do when you see a nice, grassy slope on the way back to the school?? You roll down it!
BUTTERFLIES– After our caterpillars went into their chrysalides, the students waited a week or so and then finally, butterflies emerged! We had 4 butterflies and kept them a few days to observe them, until finally releasing them into the trees at the front of the school.
Some cool snail photos!
Sports Day 2026! The day started out a little cold and wet but the students continued to have fun with each station challenge! What a fun way to spend our day!
