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.




Popular posts from this blog

A Novel History of Psychology

Image
BOOK REVIEW: Vanessa L. Ryan, Thinking Without Thinking in the Victorian Novel (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012) ——————————————— Science and (the study of) literature are growing closer together. From  Stanford's Literary Lab  and a recent New York Times piece on the Digital Humanities  to reading Austen in an MRI machine  and so-called " Literary Darwinism ," there's both controversy and a certain cache (and maybe even a little cash) in bringing scientific techniques and the study of literature closer together. This is your brain on Austen ( http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/september/images/mri_reading_news.jpg ) So what about the study of science and the study of literature? History of science, say, and literary history? The short answer is that it's happening in English departments, but not so much in History. Why? More on that below. Work on the interplay between science and literature has been dominated by scholars of the Victorian novel. G...
Read more

Scientific Comparison Writing

Image
My friend, Kip Bisignano, (a Delta/FOSS Sales Rep for Virginia, Maryland and DC) came to play with my class this week. We are presenting together at the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) in November on reading strategies and science. So yesterday, we used the book and the strategies with the class. The results were amazing! We started the day by having the kids read the book: Blue Whales and Buttercups by Seeds of Science. It is an excellent book that has the students reading about how animals and plants are similar and different. They eventually get to the point that they are all related - due to the fact that all living things are made up of cells. My students loved the book and we had a great discussion! Next we reread page 12 and 13 and brainstormed how the animals fox and wolf are similar and different using a great graphic developed by Kip. You can see how my student Darlene was able to compare two characteristics easily using this forma...
Read more

Chocoalate...Sink and Float

Image
What's better than chocolate?  not much! Here's another experiment brought to you by Candy Experiments.   Most candy sinks in water, because sugar is denser than water.  But some candy floats. Why? This experiment is so easy...all you need is some leftover chocolate candy and water.  Drop the candy in the clear glass and observe what happens.  Here's what Loralee at Candy experiments says is happening: "Some kinds of candy, such as Kit Kats, 3 Musketeers, and marshmallows have air trapped inside. This makes them float.  " I have created another recording sheet to go along with this experiment!  Hope you can use it!    
Read more