Dissecting Owl Pellets
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Suggested Grades
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5+ (although, I do know of a grade two class that did this)
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Objective
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Students will examine owl pellets and what their diet consisted of, specifically rodents. This will further their understanding of simple food chains as well as bone structure and identification.
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Materials
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- owl pellets, you can order them from many teacher resource organizations such as:
Project Wild
P.O. Box 59
Portland, OR 97207
- paper plates
- egg cartons to home discoveries
- sharp dissecting tools
- tweezers
- latex gloves
- dust masks
- owl pellets-can be shared within a group
- pencil and paper
- diagram of a rodent skeletal system photocopied for every student
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Method
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- Hand out owl pellets and place on paper plates.
- Ask studenst to examine their owl pellet, what do they notice?
- Ask students to carefully pull apart owl pellets with their hands, seperate bones and other fragments with tweezers. Place seperated items in egg cartons.
- Using the diagram of the rodent skeleton, students then try to identify the bones. Record all the different types of bones found. Who has the most bones?
- Students try to identify all the other pieces found in the pellet. Record.
- Share the discoveries with the class by having every student walk around and examine eachothers' work area.
- Pool all of the bones that the students found and try to assemble a whole skeleton of a rodent.
Warning:
Be sure to get your owl pellets from a reputable source (ie. not from a farm), since there is a danger of Hanta Virus in owl pellets. As an extra precaution, provide students with masks and latex gloves.
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Additional Resources
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Internet Resources
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