Our Local Granddaughter's Way Above Average Life Science Project

Six newborn chicks got a lot of attention at the science fair.

Madelyne, our 7th grade granddaughter, was one of over a hundred students from Harrisonburg City Schools who took part in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Science Fair held recently at our local mall.

Madelyne has long been interested in chickens, and has kept several laying hens in her back yard for some years, both as a hobby and as a way of providing some eggs for the family. So for her science project she and a friend bought some fertilized eggs and a small incubator and managed to have six baby chicks hatch just in time for their exhibit.

What made this unique was that, to the best of my knowledge, theirs was the only exhibit that had anything to do with the life sciences, the study of plant, animal and human biology.

That surprised, and in a way concerned, me. Shouldn't more of our offspring show an interest in the care of plants, trees, birds, animals and other organisms critical to our survival?

Of course, things like robot technology, applied physics and computer science also have their place, but who is going to grow our food?

Hopefully we'll always have enough people like Madelyne who can provide us with fresh vegetables and some good eggs from her back yard free range chickens.

Here's a great 2011 link to more on our grandchildren and nature. 
https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/03/million-thousand-million-earthworms.html