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Monday, July 9, 2012

Owl Pellets - an investigation!

Do you like to investigate owl pellets?  It is always one of my favorite activities!! For those of you who may not know what they are, let me explain.  Owls eat their prey whole - and then spit back up the bones in a fur ball.  You can purchase these lovely pellets and find out what they ate for dinner.
  It is a great hands-on activity to teach in a "real way" the idea of a food web or food chain.

For those of you who are squeamish...oh yes, I know you are out there!  You can also do this on-line.  There is a great website called KidWings.  This website shows owl pellets from a variety of owls...including, the barred owl. At this site, you can get teacher resources to include information about owls, bone charts, and photographs.  There is even a video that explains how to have a successful pellet investigation.



I have created a Science Center using Owl Pellets for the upper grades.  In it you will start with a focus question, some back ground information, data charts and a reflection piece. 


You can download this for FREE on my TPT store site.




4 comments:

  1. My students dissect owl pellets each year and they LOVE it!!! We even created a video two years ago and submitted it to our district's media fair. Won 3rd place! I need to find the video and post :)

    Patti
    One Class, One Sound

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  2. I did owl pellets with my first grade 2 years ago and they loved it. It was one of the best things we did that year:)

    Heather
    The Busy Busy Hive

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  3. My fifth grade Science classes have been dissecting owl pellets for a few years now. I always love to see how squeemish everyone is until their curiosity overtakes them. Then everyone seems to jump in and start looking and digging. They love to display what they find as well. It is quite an investigation!
    Donna
    working5to9math.blogspot.com

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