Why Did the Chicken Cross the River in the Sky?

In Ancient Egypt animals were very frequently mummified. Caralie Cooke and Tim Furry’s 9th grade Worldviews & Civilizations classes mummified chickens as part of their Egypt unit. The project took place over 6 weeks, beginning with drying out the store-bought roasters and continuing through the wrapping stage.

During the final process, students anointed the chickens with oil and cinnamon before wrapping them in muslin cloth. They finished by writing "spells" on the cloth to guide the chickens into the afterlife.

Students loved this project. They said that they had never done anything like this in school and that the experience helped them to understand first-hand the process of mummification.