chicken

Everyday

1. A chicken is a farm bird that lays eggs. tree →
2. Chicken is also the meat of this bird, which people eat. tree →
3. In slang, «chicken» means scared, and to «chicken out» is to be too scared to do something. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: a counted animal with 2 legs; a farm laying eggs each day; chicken as food bought by weight; «chickens and rabbits» legs puzzles. In science: chickens hatch from eggs (life cycles); they are birds but can hardly fly. In everyday life: roast chicken, chicken soup, keeping hens in a garden. Phrases: «chicken and egg» (which came first?), «don't count your chickens before they hatch».

Examples

• A farmer has 12 chickens and 5 cows. tree →
• Each chicken lays 1 egg a day. tree →
• Chickens and rabbits have 40 legs in all. tree →
• Mum buys 2 kg of chicken. tree →
• A chicken has 2 legs and 2 wings. tree →
• The chicks hatched from their eggs today. tree →
• We had roast chicken for Sunday lunch. tree →
• He wanted to jump but chickened out. tree →
• ‘I’ll eat one of these chickens.’ tree →

Note

Animal: countable («a chicken»); meat: uncountable («some chicken»). A hen is a female chicken, a rooster or cock is a male, a chick is a baby. Maths: a counted animal; a chicken has 2 legs, which matters in legs problems. Trap: in «chickens and rabbits» puzzles the legs differ (2 and 4). Safety: always cook chicken all the way through.