Eddie Arnold, a Year 11 student at UTC South Durham, has saved a baby chick after creating a home-made incubator.
As well as studying hard during the week, Eddie volunteers at a local farm every weekend and during the school holidays. With a real passion for animals, Eddie cleans out and feeds donkeys, goats and sheep, as well as chickens.
It was while he was sorting out the eggs that Eddie realised that there was a chicken inside one that had a crack on it and was to be discarded. Rather than throw it away, Eddie took it home and, using the engineering knowledge he has acquired at the UTC, he knew how to design and create an incubator. He created it out of an old box, with pieces of cardboard and a ceramic bulb, which he knew to keep at 30oC.
Eddie cites his passion for STEM, and the confidence his teachers have instilled in him, as helping him know he was doing the right thing for the egg.
The next day, returning home from school, Eddie had found that the egg had hatched and a little chick, which is doing well and thriving.
The future is looking bright for Eddie too, as his caring nature and expertise has sparked his desire to become an Environmental Engineer.
