Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 15/02) - Seventeen fuzzy friends have become the centre of attention in the Grade 1 science class at J.H. Sissons school.

Coleson Vogt, Katie Weaver and Daniel Hache play with the newly-hatched chicks at J.H. Sissons school. - Tara Kearsey/NNSL photo

For about 10 years, teacher Sarah Berry has been incubating eggs and following the gestation period with each new class.

"Each year we learn something with the children ... the gestation period of the chicks, the heat to use in the incubator and what our hatch rate will be depending on the temperature," said Berry.

Based on her experience with the chicks, it takes approximately 21 days for them to hatch.

This year the class incubated 11 eggs, seven of which successfully hatched by last Friday.

Mrs. MacNeil's class next door also participated in the experiment and successfully hatched six chicks.

"A couple of the eggs were not fertilized and we have two bronze medallion turkey eggs that will be coming out next Wednesday."

The eggs were placed in an incubator and remained at a constant temperature of 38 C until they broke out of the shells. The children each had the opportunity to turn the eggs three times a day to ensure proper gestation.

"The most valuable lesson they have learned is the appreciation of gentle care and concern for all living things and being able to witness and celebrate new life. "It's really exciting to bring new life into the classroom in the spring when it's really cold outside still," Berry said.

The children have been very enthusiastic about the experiment and Berry said the entire school has been visiting the classroom to view the little chickies.

Mrs. Berry's class will begin hatching butterflies in June.