Eggs Eggs Everywhere

Science and Math Activities for Young Children

Grades Preschool—1

Written by Jean C. Echols, Kimi Hosoume, and Jaine Kopp

More than a scramble, more than an Easter hunt, more than just chickens...eggs house a wealth of life-science information in a neat and beautiful package. This guide introduces young children to the wonder of—and the story inside—eggs from a variety of creatures, allowing them to begin developing key concepts in biology and the life sciences.

In a gentle and engaging exploration of animals that hatch, children study real and plastic egg-layers, including turtles, fish, snakes, and birds. The activities in this guide are noteworthy for their interdisciplinary richness, interweaving literature, mathematics, and the physical sciences. Through role-playing, sorting, organizing, graphing, and exploring shape and movement, students develop an understanding not only of the process of egg-laying and hatching, but of the animals themselves, their roles in the life cycle, and fundamental mathematical concepts.

The reading of Ruth Heller's beautifully illustrated book, Chickens Aren't the Only Ones, makes a wonderful introduction to the variety of egg-layers in the world. Students learn about eggs on land and eggs in water through drama and observations of a live box turtle and a fish. In the final activity, the children freely explore the movement of plastic eggs and other objects on flat and inclined surfaces. Taken together, the activities in this guide provide a fun-filled, highly effective early physical-science experience.

This GEMS guide was developed by the PEACHES program.

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