Examining Owl Pellets
Third-graders learn about an owl's diet by finding the bones.
Our third graders donned their gloves to make some major scientific discoveries.
Owl pellets are lumps of undigested prey that an owl regurgitates. A pellet may include feathers, bits of fur, and bones. By carefully dissecting the pellet and examining the remains, it is possible to determine what an owl's diet consists of.
"Owl pellets are throw-up, technically," said third grader Finn R.
"It's gross, yeah," Murphy O. observed. But that didn't deter him from diving in with his (gloved) hands to do some dirty work!
The pellets are basically balls of fur with several surprises concealed within. The students carefully pull through the fur, discovering feathers and bits of bone.
The teachers supplied a paper with drawings of the bone fragments they might typically find so the students could easily identify each artifact.
The fur, feathers, and bones are not digestible by the owls, so those remains are regurgitated. As they dry, the waste becomes known as owl pellets.
"Students get hands-on experience with dissection and learn about the food chain," said Third Grade Teacher Laurie Incles. "This is part of our Animal Adaptation curriculum."
Jake B. made an interesting observation about the food chain:
"It is good to have owls 'cause then they can keep rodents away from roaming around our yards," Jake said.
Third-grader Ali D. was excited to learn what was hiding inside the specimens.
"We get to learn what kind of bones are in pellets," Ali said. "I didn't know they had bones!"
The dissection is the culminating activity of this science unit.
Jacksonville Country Day School
Located in Jacksonville, FL, Jacksonville Country Day School is a private school for Pre-K 3 through 5th grade. JCDS prepares students for a healthy and productive lifetime of intellectual exploration, character development, and social responsibility.
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