Who wants to Dissect Owl Pellets???
Students in the previous block had the opportunity to dissect and analyze the contents of owl pellets. A pellet is fur and bones that are regurgitated by owls. Owls cannot digest the bones and fur of their prey so they are spit back up in a pellet. Other birds of prey spit out pellets, including hawks. However, hawks can digest the bones so hawk pellets are fur only.
The students bleached the bones they found and then had the opportunity to count the number and variety of animals in the pellets. Several students found multiple complete skulls. One student even found a bird's beak.Despite many students feeling this project was "gross," by the end of the exploration the class was fascinated and said they learned a lot of new information about birds, especially owls.
