Umamah Learning Academy: An Egg Unit Study

An Egg Unit Study

NOTE: This is going to be a long post. But Inshallah you will find many interesting and useful resources in it. You will find this topic covered through Language, Biology, Chemistry, Physics as well as Math.
Please note all our studies will be based on bird eggs.. Mainly chicken egg

OUR EGG UNIT STUDY

LANGUAGE

Amazon Link

It all started when I was reading Jill Tom Linson's "The hen who wouldn't give up", to my Lil Muallim's. During the story Lil Muallim # 2 asked how long did it take for a chick to come out from an egg. I told him 21 days (I remembered from somewhere....Alhumdolilah :)) He wanted to know more so I asked him if he would like to get books from the library on this topic. He gave a jubilant nod. So our next science topic began there.

For the Language part of the Unit Study we are working on a book report, sequence of events, vocabulary and picking different parts of speech. We also found an alphabetical order sheet, for parts of an egg in the lesson plan below.

ALL WE LEARNT ABOUT EGGS

Egg Color

source

My Lil Muallims were amazed at what different colored eggs there could be. Just another way to remind of Allah being Al Musawwir. While I was marveling at the colored eggs there must be, Lil Muallim #1 was busy discussing which one he would like to eat, and which one he wouldn't !

guillemot egg - source: wikipedia

Robin Eggs-source: wikipedia

emu egg - source: wikipedia

Sparrow eggs: source

SUBHANALLAH!!!

MATH

Calendar Sense

As our unit study started with the question: How long does it take a chick to come out from the egg. The answer was 21 days or 3 weeks. Lil maullim # 2 got to understand the concept through reviewing the days of the week and counting by 7's

I got the development of a chick diagram from enchanted learning, and printed it b/w (I don't have a colored printer). Lil Mullim # 2 then pasted the cut outs, 1 on each day of the month till he reached 21.

I used August 2010 Calendar, as it's week starts from Sunday, making it easier to grasp the concept of weeks passing.

Through this visual learning Lil Muallim # 2 quickly grasped:

A week has 7 days
2 weeks has 14 days
3 weeks 21 days

We discussed this in different ways, addition, calendar reading and counting by 7's.

Number Sense

Counting by dozens: For extended math activity Lil Maullim # 2 learnt the concept of dozens. This also gave me a chance to review the 6 and 12 times tables with Lil Muallim #1

.

Print Counting by 6's half a dozen Cards

Print Counting by 12's dozens Cards

Lil Muallim # 2 counting by Dozens

Our dozen and 1/2 dozen cards

Counting by dozens with 1/2 dozen cards

Counting 1/2 dozen with only 1/2 dozen cards

Counting dozens with dozen and 1/2 dozen cards

Counting by dozens

Playing Money Game

Right after counting by dozens Lil Muallim # 2 came up with a game. It consumed him and Lil Muallimah for almost 3 hours.

Adventures of Farmer Blue and Farmer Brown

Selling raw and cooked regular eggs

Selling raw and cooked ORGANIC eggs

That's paper money on the left
The eggs were sold for $ 20 per dozen :)

Cooking eggs

Lil Mualim # 2 Counting by 6's and 12's

Lil Muallim # 2 colored in multiples of 6's and 12's on a hundred numbers chart. I helped him find the pattern and he picked it up Alhumdolillah. We used the 1/2 dozen and 1 dozen cards as manipulatives.

Lil Muallim #1 Counting by Dozen Through Tables

Timed Drills

pics coming doon

Measurement

Smallest egg

source

Humming birds are the smallest birds, and their egg is onlyhalf inch or 1.2 cm in length. We measured different coins to get an idea of how tiny the eggs could be. First we took some coins, a penny, a dime and Euro 1cent

1.8 cm

1.7 cm

1.5 cm

Then I thought of using something with an ovoid (3D oval) shape to keep Lil Muallim # 2's mind focused on an egg. So, we measured black cardomoms. The smallest black cardamom we found was still 1.4 cm long. Then we tried small green cardamoms. After a couple of measurements we found a close match. Eureka!!

1.4 cm

1.2 cm

Look at the small green cardomom. Now that's tiny
for a whole bird to grow in.
SUBHANALLAH!!

Largest Egg

source

Ostrich is not only the largest bird, but it also lays the largest egg you can find in the world today. It measures upto 16 cm or ". It takes a hammer to crack it open as it's egg shell is quite hard and looks like ceramic from the outside.

We also learnt that one ostrich egg equals to almost 24 chicken eggs, which means 2 dozen eggs!!! We are thinking of visiting an ostrich farm, maybe we will bring back a souvegnier and eat it too. haha!

Size Comparison

source: wikipedia

We found a measurement chart and an Egg Book on enchanted learning. Lil maullim # 1 and 2 used it to make these measurement charts for a size comparison study. They added the humming bird egg size in it too.

Lil Muallim # 2 practiced measuring lines in cm

Lil Muallim # 1 measured in cm and
then practiced conversion into inches orally.
Mashallah

Lil Muallim # 1 also made this chart in excel. He learnt how to do it from Baba. Mashallah!

Time

Boiling Eggs

source

Boiling an Ostrich Egg : We learnt it takes 90 minutes to 2 hours to boil an Ostrich egg. Subhanallah!! A lesson on SABR if you are very hungry, as the patience would pay off. Especially for Lil Muallim #1 (haha!) For him that would be a real feast. :)

Boiling a Chicken Egg: In comparison to ostrich eggs, regular eggs are definitely faster to boil. Alhumdolillah :) So we boiled regular eggs to record how long it takes to make soft and hard boiled eggs. We ate the eggs afterwards (ofcourse!)

cooking a hard boil egg

HARD BOILED took 7 minutes after

water came to a boil

source:cooking a soft boil egg

SOFT BOILED took 3 minutes after

water came to a boil

SCIENCE

When covering a science topic I usually do it with all the kids at different levels. As Lil Muallim # 1 was already about to study about the cells. I thought it would tie in perfectly with studying an egg first as it is really a big cell. Secondly, Lil Muallim #1 LOVES eggs. He always has! The mention of an egg can bring a smile on his face even in the worst of moods. Subhanallh. So what better science topic for him than studying closely what he loves in a very scientific way.

As we started off with our egg experiments 2 weeks ago, it was only natural to study its structure and composition too. We came across a lot of wonderful observations. There's so much to learn from a single creation of Allah the Al-Khaliq.....The Ultimate Creator.

source : DK free clipart

LOGIC: Whether the egg is big or small....Why don't the eggs break when the mother bird sits on it?

We did an experiment to check the resilience of eggs, with four eggs in an egg carton and piling almost 20 hardcover books weighing 10 pounds on top of it...... But forgot to take pictures. Check out a similar experiment here.

We found that as Allah made the eggs ovoid, their arch shape gives them incredible strength as the arches distributes the weight all around the egg. Thats why they usually use the arch structure in bridges.

Go ahead try squeezing an egg in your palm with all your might. You will be surprised but you won't be able to break it!

Lil Muallaim # 2 trying to squeeze an egg

PHYSICS: I was amazed at the possibility of studying the Laws of Motion with eggs. For this Lil Muallim #1 had to observe and find the answer to this question.

What happens when a spinning egg is stopped?

What if the egg is hard boiled?

What if the hard boiled egg is spun really fast?

Find out the details of this experiment here.

Refracting Eggs

PHYSICS: We noticed refraction of light with an egg. A perfect opportunity to study, that light bends when it enters a denser medium, making the egg looked enlarged.

We placed an egg in a bowl of water. The egg looked normal size from the top but looked enlarged when we looked at it, from an angle...........

we could see the top of the egg in actual size as it was

out of the water. But the rest of the egg seemed larger.

SUBHANALLAH

Telling a Good Egg from a Bad Egg

One egg is good one is bad. Which ones which?

The answer to this can be found in Part 1 of our fresh and rotten egg experiment here.

Sink or Float?

Using the same sinking fresh egg from the above experiment we tried something different.

You will find our finding in the part 2 of this experiment here.

THE EGG SHELL

Chemical composition of an Egg Shell

An egg shell is mainly composed of Calcium carbonate crsystals

Secondary level reference: I found an excellent experiment with explanation for our future use Inshallah. I am adding it here incase some of you find it useful,

Organic vs Non Organic

On comparing an organic egg shell with a regular white egg shell, there is a clear difference in the structure of the shell besides the colour.

Strength: At breakfast time I used both type of eggs so that my Lil Muallims could try and find the difference for them selves.

By cracking the egg shells with their fingers they were able to tell almost immediately that while the white egg shell is quite brittle and easily cracked the organic egg shell is harder and stronger than it. Subhanallah!

Calcium Content: As we had discovered in our very 1st egg experiment that when an egg shell is left in vinegar (acetic acid) it's calcium carbonate crystals break down releasing carbon dioxide.

Knowing that the organic egg shell was thicker and stronger, Lil Muallims discussed and guessed that it would probably take longer to dissolve. It was time to try out. I wasn't in the mood to pickle an organic egg. So we decided to do a comparative study with just the shells.

Find details of this experiment here:
Organic vs Non Organic egg shell Experiment

Anatomy of an Egg cell

I found 2 excellent lessons on the "Anatomy of an Egg" and Lil Muallim # 1 studied them on his own.

Online Explanation

Printable lesson and worksheets.

Lil Muallim # 1 drew a diagram of the anatomy of an egg cell and then did a comparative study with a real egg.

He was able to recognize and talk about the function of each part, as the above lessons were pretty self explanatory. Alhumdolillah!

He noticed:

the thicker part and watery part of the albumen.
the white rope like chalazae
the vitelline membrane covering the yolk
the inner membrane lining the inside of the egg shell
and the air cell pocket in the egg shell formed by the inner membrane in the broader end of the egg, but none if the narrower end of the ovoid

We noticed the air cell again in the bottom of the egg in a hard boiled egg here.

GROWING A CHICK

source: DK Clipart

BIOLOGY: Now back to our initial question that started this unit study. How does a chick grow in an egg? Studying how a chick grows inside an egg is a wonderful way to marvel at Allah's Power and Giver of life. The Al-Qadir and Al-Muhyiy.

source: enchanted learning

I got some labeling worksheets and a chick growth chart from Enchanted Learning to discuss this.

Watch a Beautiful Video of a Chick Hatching Subhanllah!

Another very cute one can be seen @ Museum of science and Industry Chicago

Hatching Eggs

BIOLOGY: One day we might even try and hatch our own. For now here's a link from Squidoo on hatching eggs.

Properties of an Egg

CHEMISTRY: We learnt that egg is mainly composed of proteins, which are actually long chains of amino acids. The proteins in the egg white are curled, twisted and clustered together in a spherical shape which gives them the name of globular proteins (from globe).

source: Wikipedia

These proteins are held together by a weak bond. This bond is easily disturbed when the egg is heated, beaten or mixed.

Lil Muallim # 1's diagram for Globular proteins in an egg

Cooking with Eggs

Heating an Egg

Lil Muallim # 1 learnt about what happens to an egg when heated here. Here's a diagram made by he made showing the movement of the proteins when heated.

This made him understand something he always asked. Why does the egg white stop spreading? (He doesn't like eating small eggs)!

Beating an Egg

We all know when eggs are beated air bubbles are added into them whoch makes the egg fluffy. A very simple explanation talks about the science in this, in the Beat'em section here.

We also learnt and understood two new terms while studying this... Hydrophobic - water fearing and Hydrophylic - water loving.

A diagram made by Lil Maullim # 1 showing amino acids in action when eggs are beaten.

Making Meringue

We took 4 egg whites and started beating them up. The physical changes the egg whites went through were quite fascinating for my Lil Muallims.

Foaming egg white

Thickening egg white

Frothing

peaks forming

After adding vinegar and sugar

Glossy Meringue

Baked

In the end we made Pavlova. Ummi and Abi ate it all......Lil Muallims weren't interested. All the better for us :):):):)

An answer for "Why do egg whites foam?' can be read here.

Mixing Eggs

Lil Maullim # 2 and Lil Muallimah learnt that oil and water dont mix. Their experience and experiment can be seen here.

As Lil Maullim # 1 already knew that, the lesson had to go to the next level with him. So the question was proposed if you did want to mix oil and water what could you do?

The answer is use an emulsifier. Emulsi ... what?

An emulsifier simply means a good friend that helps two other friends get along.

For a more scientific explanation read the Mix'em up section here.

Lil Muallim's diagram showing the egg proteins when mixed in oil

Making Mayonnaise

Lil Muallim learnt how an egg yolk acts as an emulsifier, by mixing oil and vinegar when making Mayonnaise .

beaten egg yolks

mixing oil

Lil Muallim had no idea how long it could take to make Mayonnaise. Adding the oil drip by drip required a lot of patience on his part. Another lesson on patience was learnt here. But in the end the reward was worth it.

Lil Muallims Yummy Mayonnaise with
herbs and black pepper

The answer for "Why oil and water don't mix and how an egg yolk helps" can be read here.

Inventive Fun With Eggs

Making Contraption for Egg Drop

For This Lil Muallim # 1 and 2 took the challenge of coming up with their own contraptions for an Egg Drop experiment.

What is Egg Drop? According to Wikipedia .......

"The egg drop contest is an experiment usually performed by college or primary school students. Competitors typically attempt to create a device that can keep a raw chicken egg intact when dropped from a height. Students are asked to build a device made from a limited amount of materials to support an egg when dropped from various heights."

My Lil Muallims made 5 contraptions each and tested them from a height of 10 ft with.

Here is a sneak peak of a few of their Contraptions

If you are interested in finding out what happened?

Click here for the details in the "DROPPING EGGS" post.

....(trying to find time to do it!!)
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This pretty much ends our Egg Unit Study. You can find useful links in the reference Links below:

Reference Links

Experiment Explanations: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000023

Some Lesson Plans:

http://www.crackingeggs.co.uk/teachers/ks2-whats-in-an-egg.php

http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=1179