Check out what we are doing today!!! This is easily one of the favorites for the year, and my favorite part of the project is when the "Ewwwwws" turn into "Cool!"
What are owl pellets? Basically, after an owl swallows its prey (whole), its stomach digests all the parts of the animal that it can. What's left is bones and fur. The owl then regurgitates (or, in kid terms, pukes up) this "pellet." For those of you getting queasy right now, they are sanitized before they are sent to us!!! :)
Our process:
- make observations about size, shape, texture, and color
- break it in two
- partners begin working together to separate bones from fur
- categorize bones into the different areas of the skeleton & determine if the animal is a rodent, shrew, mole, or bird
- glue bones onto a copy of a skeleton to reconstruct their animal's body
We should be able to wrap up the project today, so look for some part of a skeleton to come home!
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