Lincoln Northeast Kiwanian Dick Earl, who recently passed away at the age of 95, managed a hatchery in Lincoln. He thought learning about embryology would be a great educational tool for kids and helped start the program in 1975. Dick worked with the Lancaster County Extension Service to get this program started. Lincoln third graders have benefited from Embryology in their classroom for over 40 years.

What started out in three classrooms at one school has turned into every third-grade classroom in the Lincoln Public School system as well as Waverly, Norris and many parochial schools.

Embryology has been a part of the core (required) science curriculum in LPS since 1993. Students learn about embryonic development and the life cycle during the 21-day incubation process of chicken eggs. They care for the eggs, witness the hatching process and then care for the baby chicks for 23 days. Last spring, 3,513 third graders from 165 classrooms and 54 schools participated during three sessions. Last fall, a new session added four new schools and 137 students in home schools.

This year, Embryology plans to increase to 186 classrooms. Each classroom receives one dozen fertilized chicken eggs. Students turn the eggs three times a day and provide water for humidity in the incubators.

After seven days of incubation, Extension staff candle the eggs with the students. By candling (shining a bright light) on the eggs, students can see if the eggs are developing (viable), have stopped developing (died), or were never fertile.

This is an exciting time for students and teachers with much anticipation of what they will see. For many students, this is the first time they have experienced seeing a developing embryo and for many, it is the first time theyve experienced life and death. Students are also learning respect for living creatures.

Because the program grew so much, a partnership was formed with a hatchery in Iowa which donates nearly 200 dozen eggs per year. Kiwanis club members from Lincoln Northeast drive 200 miles to Spencer, Iowa, three times a year to get the eggs so we can keep Dick Earl's dream alive for thousands of third graders each year.

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Embryology program started by Lincoln Northeast Kiwanis Club - Lincoln Journal Star