Mr. Chandler's Eighth Grade World History Class  (2006-2007)

Some are fried. Some are baked. Some are grilled. Some are mummified? This year, Mr. Chandler's 8th grade world history class is getting up close and personal with mummification. To understand the practice of the ancient Egyptians, the 8th graders are conducting a year long project of mummifying chickens. The project has begun! Students have thoroughly washed the birds and removed as much moisture as possible. Spices have been applied to help remove some of the odorous side effects of such a project and salt has been placed in and on the chickens to dry out the remaining moisture. Students will monitor the birds for the next four to six weeks, changing the salt and spices as needed. When the birds are thoroughly dried, they will be wrapped in bandages and buried. Toward the end of the school year, students will exhume the chickens to see if mummification was successful. Follow their progress here on the school website!

8th Grade students wrapped up their project today (quite literally!) as the final bandages were placed around the chicken mummies. The mummies have dried according to plan and are now ready for burial. Students decorated the mummies with jewels, so that their chicken friends will have a little spending money in the next life.

Athens, Alabama: Today marked a sad day as Cluckfoo, Little Giza, Pharaoh Cluck-Cluck, Mumtutoah Cluckahabi, and Ramses III (the Chicken Pharaoh) were laid to rest. Under the brilliant autumn sun, 8th graders shared a few of their fondest memories of the dearly departed, now mummified friends. Scotty Lee was heard to say, "I'm going to miss you, chicken" and Joseph Murray lamented, "He really was malodorous." Although the 8th graders are not sure how the chickens met their final end (fowl play is suspected), they can rest assured that their poultry pals are now ready for eternity, with bodies preserved should their spirits ever want to return for a visit.

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