Owl Pellets

Wednesday, September 25:

“If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time saying where you're going.” ― Wendell Berry

Grade Level: 2

Materials:  Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, Owl Zoobook, owl pellet, owl bone diagram, owl information packet and pellet kit, wooden tools, toothpicks

Objective: Student will learn about owls and their adaptations through fiction, nonfiction, and owl pellet exploration.

Introduction/Hook: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

M and I decided to slow our science pace until his classmate returned so today instead of moving forward we repeated an activity we did last year that we both enjoyed: dissecting owl pellets.  M and I have both heard many owls calling at night during this past week's full moon so it seemed like an opportune time to remind ourselves of owl adaptations.

M and I started our day in the reading loft with one of my favorite stories: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.  I love the illustrations and Yolen's vivid writing.  The story has a rhythm that M and I both love.  Yolen ends with the beautiful lines, "When you go owling you don't need words or warmth or anything but hope.  That's what Pa says.  The kind of hope that flies on silent winds under a shining Owl Moon."  When we finished the story M and I talked about our experiences with owls.  We flipped through an owl Zoobook and took turns reading aloud the sections that interested us most.

M then took some time to write in his science notebook.  He resisted the writing.  Reflection and the time it requires slows our pace in a way he finds frustrating--but I think it's helpful for both of us to take time during our science sessions to practice recording our observations.

Once M had written two sentences about owls and told me some of his recollections from last year's owl pellet lesson we started a pellet dissection.  We were lucky enough to already have an owl pellet and a corresponding science packet so M was able to not only dissect the contents of the pellet but to match them to corresponding pictures of small rodent bones.  We talked about rodents (which make up 40% of all mammals) and the characteristic that defines them (growing incisors that must be kept short by gnawing.)  We learned from the internet about the world's largest rodent (the 77-146 lb capybara) and watched a BBC video of a capybara being pursued by a caiman.  The video ended with the capybara being eaten which seemed violent to M and me but it was a good reminder of predator and prey and the owl's relationship to the tiny rodent bones we found in our pellet.

Dissection

Bones M found inside the pellet

We compare rodent skulls--beaver vs. rat

Washington State Content Areas Covered:

EALR 4: Life Science 
Big Idea: Biological Evolution (LS3)
Core Content: Variation of Inherited Characteristics

Students know that:
-2-3 LS3A There are variations among the same kinds of plants and animals.
-2-3 LS3B The offspring of a plant or animal closely resembles its parents, but close inspection reveals differences
-2-3 LS3C Sometimes differences in characteristics give individual plants or animals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.

Students should be able to:
• Give examples of variations among individuals of the same kinds of plants and animals within a population (e.g., tall and short pine trees, black cats and white cats, people with blue eyes or brown eyes, with freckles or without).
• Compare the offspring of a plant or animal with its parents, listing features that are similar and that are different.

 • Predict how differences in characteristics might help one individual survive better than another (e.g., animals that are stronger or faster, plants or animals that blend into the background, plants that grow taller or that need less water to survive).