The school had some very exciting visitors arrive over the past week – baby ducklings! 4th class set up an incubator with some duck eggs last week and patiently kept a close eye until finally some hatched!  We had two different types of ducklings hatch – runner ducks and call ducks. All of the children and teachers in the school came to visit and learned about the hatching process and baby ducklings. The ducklings are doing great and are enjoying being cuddled by so many smiling children!

Lulu Bergin also came to visit last Friday and gave a talk to 2nd, 3rd and 4th class. Lulu has a small bird-farm in the local community. She spoke about the life cycle of a duck, how an incubator works and how to care for ducklings. She also taught us how to candle an egg – which shows us if the egg is fertilised and ready for the incubator or whether it is an unfertilised egg, like the ones we eat. Lulu brought in some week-old ducklings and let us gently have a little pet and look at their beaks and webbed feet. The classes really tested Lulu’s knowledge and asked her some excellent questions about birds. She also visited Junior Infants, who have been learning about the farm this month, and 1st Class, who are learning about eggs.

 

4th class have really enjoyed learning about ducks and having the ducklings in the classroom. We’ve learned so much about the structure of a fertilised egg, the parts of a duck, the life-cycle of ducks and caring for the baby birds. We’ve also enjoyed sharing our learning with the other children and teachers around the school. Our expert ‘Egg-Watchers’ have done a fantastic job keeping an eye on the hatching process to make sure the ducklings arrived safely and are being well looked after.