Inside an egg

We had an opportunity to see inside a developing fertile egg ... Mrs. Stahler's 2/3 class is incubating duck eggs. Their first clutch met an unfortunate fate ~ the incubator broke over a weekend dropping the temperature too low for the embryo to survive. The eggs stayed too cold for too long ~ just as though the mother duck had abandoned the nest. A new incubator was found, and a new clutch of eggs set. We wish them luck with their project.

In the meantime, Mrs. Stahler offered us 2 eggs that had expired, to open and see what goes on inside. The eggs were in their 5th day of development. (Duck eggs take about 28 days ~ 5 days less than a falcon) to hatch. We carefully opened the eggs and it was fascinating! We could see blood vessels, the beginning of the circulatory system; the embryo; the heart; and the eye spot. Our principal took photos of the experience. If you would like to see the graphic pictures of the inside of a developing egg, click HERE.