That's one Mummified Chicken!

23 September 2010
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One school project lead to another...which became King Chicken Little project. One year my oldest did a science project: the process of mummification. He chose a chicken over an apple (which is usually suggested).

It was an overall interesting project. At first week, to re-fill the salt and baking soda that thing (chicken) was pretty smelly!! Ugh. I made sure he used gloves every time he handled it for re-packaging it and bleached the counter! There was plenty of books on Egypt, but not so many about the process of mummifying; so most of our research was off the Internet.

It was very interesting to me why they mummified and took special care of the body after death, how each vital organ had its own container (canopic jar) for preserving while the process was being done...

It was also interesting to find out that after Christianity came into play, the Egyptians realized that this process of mummification is not necessary...because of Salvation.

The science project was a success and fun to do!! Ethan had about 2 months of time for the mummification process. A gross factor (yet interesting) is that after he made a 'tomb' for it, collected all his data, and the science fair was over...it was 'forgotten' in our garage for at least 2 months (still attached and wrapped and still in it's tomb/coffin) -and it was still preserved/mummified; no odor of any kind. That's one mummified chicken!! After I found it~ I was surprised, yet fascinated by it!! I could still smell the 'spices!' I threw it away though...we don't need it forever. LOL!

Below is a link to SOME photos of the project. Sad to say, I didn't take a photo of Ethan's embellished (tomb) box that the mummified chicken was placed in...oh well--my younger ones might want to do this project in the future.

Photos of the Project


Some great websites we used for this project:

1. Ancient Egypt
2. An Overview of Mummification in Ancient Egypt
3. Ancient Egypt Mummies
4. So you want to Mummify a Chicken?
5. How to Mummify a Chicken, Part 1
6. The Science of Mummification
7. Discovery Kids: Make a Mummy

Well, thanks for stopping by! ;)

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11 comments:

melanie said...

EWWW, but VERY cool! LOL We've been studying Ancient Egypt and I know my kids would love to do this. Wonder if I could convince them to go with the apple rather than chicken? ;) Seriously - this is a fabulous experiment!

Rebecca said...

That is really cool!!!

Unknown said...

@Melanie: Thanks. It was a cool experiment and I would be suprised it they chose apple over chicken! ;) LOL!

@Rebecca: Thank you! It was fun (after it was completed!! We used alot of salt and baking soda!

kathy said...

You are a brave mom... Can you be my teacher? I remember one of the most interesting facts for me was that Egyptians threw out the brain, thinking there is no function to it since thinking was done with the heart :)

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Deb Chitwood said...

Wow – that’s an amazing science project! The study of Egypt is one your son will always remember. Well done!

http://LivingMontessoriNow.com

Lora @ my blessed life said...

I've read about mummifying a chicken, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to do it;) It's a cool experiment though!

Jennifer said...

Wow! That's an amazing project. I hope my younger daughter doesn't see this. I think she would really like this project, and I don't know if I'm brave enough to tackle it . . . yet!

~Jennifer

Unknown said...

Hi Jessica,

Cool experiment! I see were both on the CREW and HSV - looking forward to blogging with you!

April

laughinglioness.lisa@gmail.com said...

Very cool! We've never mummified anything on purpose = ). looking forward to getting to know you through the HSV panel!!

Rebecca said...

So glad to be on the panel with you...already follow you...love your blog!

Unknown said...

Thank you all!! It was quite an experiment!! Looking forward to meeting all ladies on The Homeschool Village Panel!! ;)

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! Come back soon! Sincerely, Jessica

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