Yes, it looked similar but different to my 1588. That 70 chicken egg capacity without turner threw me a bit too. Wonder what the capacity is with turner?
Hovabator is a pretty reliable relatively inexpensive incubator and will propbably suit your purposes fairly well. You do need to keep it out of direct sunlight and away from vents since the temperature needs to remain fairly stable. That heater has trouble keeping up with big temperature swings.
Definitely get the turner for a classroom. That is essential.
The biggest issue you will probably have is with the humidity. There should be water reservoirs you fill in the plastic liner. Water surface area controls the humidity inside. Yiou will need to fill that reservoir at the end of business Friday so it does not run dry over the weekend.
Do not in any way depend on the thermometer that comes with the incubator. The literature you get with the incubator basically tells you that it is not reliable. Get a decent thermometer that is accurate to within 0.1 degrees and calibrate it. Also, get a hygrometer so you can measure humidity inside and calibrate that. So much science you can teach with this project! I use my hygrometer more to tell me when that reservoir is going empty than worrying about exactly what the humidity is, but in a classroom, you may have some real opportuniites there.
I suggest starting the eggs on a Wednesday to get the best chance of a hatch during the school week. The eggs can hatch a couple of days early or late. If you start too close to the weekend, you can get a hatch when no one is around.
You might talk to your county extension agent about this project. They may have equipment, hatching eggs, a lesson plan to go along with this, or maybe even bring is some experts to help. Some extension agents are better than others, but some are real good.
Good luck with this. Sounds great!
Editted to add: Just saw your latest post.
Brinsea, say the Eco 20 model, is more reliable and easier to use, but is more expensive.
