LOL! Baby ducks are cute because they're round and covered with down. Children are cute because they relate to animals because they have poop in common? Very cute, indeed!

LOL I suppose that is true, they do have it in common. The second most common question was about wings. At least I can give a lot of similar answers.

That's funny! How nice of you to share the eggs and exciting for the kids.

What grade? I taught fourth grade for a long time. Poop is always a "fun" topic!!!

whistle_gw Kindergarten classes!

Ohhhhh, kindergarteners and ducklings! Doesn't get any cuter.

Don't I know it whistle_gw. She sent me pictures when they still had the ducklings. The kids were holding the babies, was adorable. My youngest son's class hatched turkeys when he was in grade 3. For Mother's Day the teacher took a picture of each of the kids holding a baby turkey. The grin on my son's face was priceless. He's used to being around livestock too, so I'm sure for a lot of the kids in the class it was awesome.
I was going to provide eggs for my son's school but they couldn't get an incubator. :(

I do agree; New ducklings in their down covering are the cutest and cuddliest things around. My family found by experience that a child's urge to cuddle the little duck can be bad for the duckling. We lost a young Mallard duck to a visiting playmate. While we were not looking, she squeezed the little fellow too hard. (Its hard to resist. They are so cuddly.) It died that night from internal injuries,

jemdandy Poor little duckie. :( Unfortunately I think kids are like that with all cute little cuddly things when they are young. Sometimes we get hard learning experiences. I've had many, many of my own.

Responding to the thread's heading: Human babies are created 'cute' because their appearance elicits nurturing feelings from adults, which children will require for an extended time. Along similar lines, do you think babies tend to look like their fathers?

How sweet. :) (Not the squeezing of the poor little duckling!) Generally when a teacher gives a writing assignment, she/he has a little discussion before-hand to get the brains ticking; most likely while "brainstorming" questions, a poop-question was offered by one Kinder and many kids took the idea and ran with it.

Animal babies are adorable!

chisue I wouldn't say all babies look like their fathers. I think it depends. All three of mine are boys and I've always found it strange the oldest really looked like his father when born but is pretty much a male version of me and has been since he was quite young. The middle reminded me of my grandfather when born and is pretty much my hubby's mini me (though not so mini anymore) and the youngest looked so much like me as a baby and is a mix of the two of us. I would also say that I am a firm believer that not all human babies are created cute. They are adorable, yes, but lets all be truthful, some babies are just ugly. I realize that's a completely superficial statement by the way.

sjerin Poop was an on-going discussion because they kept the ducklings in the classroom for a week and a half. The kids were amazed by how much ducks poop and it's true, they do poop a lot. This teacher has used the ducks for all sort of curriculum units including math. The questions are part of the curriculum for the kindergarten where they have to come up with unique ideas on their own. I don't believe it was due to a discussion right before, but due to the fact that I think kids find poop utterly fascinating. LOL

Ha, poop questions! Too funny. What a fun thing for the little ones to experience.