Advertisement He followed the hens to the top of a haystack and reached down while his classmates waited patiently with the chicks.
Suddenly, Deyo, a Northern Hills Elementary School second-grader, shot his hand into the air. He’d found a light brown egg.
“I think they hid them in the hay bales because they really want you to look in the coop,” he said. “I knew the egg was there because I saw a smooth spot in the hay where there were footprints.”
Students in Onalaska experienced life on the farm this summer while learning about the animals that live there through Animals at the Farm, a course offered by the school district. They met at Clearwater Farm in Greens Coulee for sessions that focused on a different animal each day.
“We learn interesting facts on the animals and we learn how to take care of them,” said Matthew Herro, 9, who is in the fourth grade at St. Patrick‘s School. “We also do projects that help us learn about the farm.”
Where else can you have a cat lay on a notebook or a donkey wander over, teacher Sandy Musolf added.
“The kids learn about nature. It’s just awesome,” she said. “I haven’t had one kid say all week that they wish they were home playing video games.”
The chicken was the honorary animal June 24, and the children and Musolf discussed all things fowl — especially eggs.
They learned how a baby chick develops and what the parts of an egg are called. Some students even offered their reasons for why an egg is round and not shaped like a pyramid.
“Because when a bird is grown up that is not in that shape,” said Darcy Reimler, 7, who is in second grade at Eagle Bluff Elementary School. “And it would hurt the mom chicken.”
But Musolf offered the best explanation with an experiment she and the students in grades 1 through 3 conducted.
Using four eggs found on the farm, she and the youngsters stacked library books to test the strength of the eggs.
When the eggs withstood 33 books, it was determined the shape makes the eggs strong enough to support the mother hen during the 20- to 21-day incubation period.
Samantha Netwal, 10, who attends Irving Pertzsch Elementary School, and Tessa Fimreite, 10, who attends Eagle Bluff, enrolled in the class for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders because they thought it would be fun and they like animals.
It turns out they had an awesome week on the farm and learned a lot about the critters that live there.
“This is more fun than school,” Fimreite said.
“We get to do more activities and meet new friends.”
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
Open Barns
The red barns at Clearwater Farm will be open to visitors from 9 to 11 a.m. July 12 and 26; Aug. 9 and 23; Sept. 13 and 27; and Oct. 11. Informal tours are available. The cost is $2 per person or $5 per family. For more information, visit www.clearwaterfarmfoundation.org.
