Background
One day, Miss Ima found an egg laying on the carpet inside the classroom, and she moved the egg to the top of the cupboard. In the afternoon, Micol found the egg and asked “Where did you get the egg miss?” and Miss Ima told Micol where she found them. A few days after that, Miss Ima found another egg on the carpet and moved it to the cupboard. Not long after that, Micol found a couple of eggs inside the cupboard and she came up with an idea “Miss, why don’t we make an incubator for these eggs?”. Miss Ima agreed to the idea and shared the idea with the others.
The discussion started with a question “Who likes animals?” and all students raised their hands up. During the discussion, they also try to find out how to make an egg incubator and how to take care of an egg until it hatched. We were using the internet as our source of information. The discussion happened for another couple of days, we also asked students to discuss this project with their parents. After we have gathered all the information, try to make the incubator and calendar in the class. We use the incubator to lay the eggs and warm them until they hatch. Inside we have rice husks, some cloth, water inside a bowl to keep the humidity balanced, and a fluorescent lamp (20 watts). Other than the incubator, students also made a calendar as a reminder of the days, because based on the information they found, it took 21 days for the egg to hatch.
After the incubator is done, all students are asked to take care of and be responsible for the eggs. Based on the information they got, they are supposed to rotate the eggs 90 degrees 3 times a day, in order to give an even warmth on all surfaces, so the embryos can grow healthily. Based on the egg needs, students came up with a duty schedule to share the responsibility together.
This project was their second project. The first project was not successful, because the egg didn’t get enough warmth, they were using a 5-watt lamp. Another thing that played a part in the failure was they moved the egg around during checking time and moved it to the darker side inside the box.
Learning Resources
Internet : Tutorial on how to make an egg incubator, How to make a good egg incubator
Resources : Teachers, Parents, Poultry Expert (Bali Bird Park Team)
Learning Orientation
Student-oriented learning. In this project, students are directed to become subjects and objects that they learn from the egg incubator project. Children are encouraged to think critically about the problem they face and find solutions to problems during the process. The teacher’s role in this project is as a facilitator and helps students get a real and authentic learning experience. Learning is considered and adapted to previous experiences and students’ intellect because each student has different learning experiences and potential.
Research Stages
a. Research on how to make a good egg incubator.
b. Research about how long it takes for an egg to hatch.
c. Research on how to treat eggs properly.
d. Prepare the tools and materials needed to make an incubator.
e. Make the incubator and calendar as reminded.
f. Routine inspection.
Documentation
Documentation activities are carried out by the teacher at each stage of the activities carried out by students starting from the preparation stage, making the incubator, to the routine inspection stage which is carried out entirely by students with assistance from the teacher.
