This spring, over seven hundred Cloverbud, School Enrichment, Special Interest and 4-H Club members from Harlan Elementary and Middle Schools, Verda Headstart, Grays Knob Headstart, Rosspoint, Cumberland, Green Hill, Evarts, Black Mountain, Cawood, James A Cawood, Sunshine Preschool, and Wallins Schools participated in the 4-H Chick Incubation Project during March and April.  This project fulfills the 4-H Project Curriculum requirements for Animal Science and is also designed for correlation to the U.S. National Science Education Standards.  “Embryology: The Study of Life” is designed to provide classroom teachers background information and exciting activities for hands on activities provided by the Harlan County 4-H Chick Incubation Project. An additional goal of this curriculum is to help students develop life skills.  Life skills are abilities that help an individual live a productive and satisfying life.  Within this curriculum 4-H Club members will have an opportunity to develop life skills related to science processes, teamwork, keeping records, and planning and organizing. Forty dozen eggs for the project were picked up by the 4-H Agent at the University of Kentucky Poultry Farm.  Students learned definitions relating to poultry incubation and the importance of chickens and eggs in the economy.  Students discussed consumer concerns about eggs and cholesterol.  In addition, students learned the structure of the egg, and actually looked inside the egg as the embryo developed by constructing an egg candler. Students used the candler to determine whether the incubated eggs were fertile, and if fertile, to check on the growth and development of the embryo. Students learned the timing of major embryonic development of the chicks: fertilization, division and growth of living cells, and segregation of cells into groups of special function.  All students received simple egg recipes and learned about egg nutrition and safe preparation of egg dishes. On Day 21 students observed the actual hatching process of the chicks. Students used different venues during the unit, including smart boards to observe heartbeats and veins of chicks, drawings of different stages after viewing inside of shell, math calculations, and birthday parties.  92 percent of students scored higher on the post test on chick incubation than on the pretest. Mr. Lester (JACES) said he was apprehensive taking on the challenge of this enormous project.  At the end of the project, he stated that the students and himself had learned so much from the materials provided and the success of the hatch rate, that he could hardly wait to participate next year. Another teacher, Mr. Howard, (Green Hill)  invited the whole school to bring in their students to take photos of the the students and chicks for social media. Each teacher expressed the enjoyment and wonder of seeing an actual live hatch and new life of a baby chick.