Year 10 Biology students have been monitoring chicks over a two week period. The girls have been looking at the adaptations of living organisms and have been observing the chicks, weighing and measuring them, to see what changes have taken place since they hatched. We asked students Alessia Younas and Angelique Abreu to tell us all about it.

What has been your most fascinating discovery?

Alessia: The most interesting thing I discovered about the chickens was that the yellow chicks are male and the browner coloured chickens are female. My chick was female.

Angelique: The fascinating discovery I found was discovering how they develop from fertilisation to the embryonic stage and then to a fully grown chick. It was interesting to learn how the embryo survives inside the egg and how fast the chicken develops both in incubation and once it hatches.

Why were you studying chickens and what observations and data did you collect?

Alessia: We were studying the chicks to understand the stages of chicken development.  One of the observations was that on the fifth day, the chicks’ feathers began to expand, and there was significant movement in their wings.

Angelique: We were studying the chicks to develop an awareness of animal ethics, investigate the various adaptations of the chicken and to develop an understanding of the development cycle of a chick from a fertilised egg to a two-week-old chicken. During every lesson, we would assess and document the observations of the chickens behavioural and physical characteristics. We did this over the two-week investigation period.

What has been a highlight of Biology for you this year and why did you choose Biology as one of your semester courses?

Alessia: I chose biology because I love marine biology and I am very interested in animals. The highlight of biology so far has been the chicks and interacting with them.

Angelique: The highlight of biology, this year, for me has been learning about the chicks and having hands-on experience, holding them and visually seeing how they develop.  I chose biology as I love learning about different animals and the environment in which they live.