Fifth graders dissect owl pellets
By KATHY PREHEIM
Contributing writer
Did you know that owls cast up owl pellets before they can eat again? After eating a meal of rodents, shrews, birds, and/or moles, an owl will regurgitate the undigested parts of its previous meal. These undigested parts (bones, fur, and teeth) of the owl's meal become an owl pellet.
If you happened to be in Peabody Elementary for the past two weeks, you have noticed fifth grade students picking at a gray furry mass on their desks. This gray furry mass started out as a foil-wrapped owl pellet. When the students received their owl pellets, they were excited to dig right in.
Upon unwrapping the foil-wrapped pellets, students found a grayish brown thing that looked like a lump of dirt. They used their hands and toothpicks to break apart the pellet. Exclamations of "I found a skull!" and "Look, a pelvic bone!" were heard throughout the class.
It was so exciting to hear students call bones by their correct names. They were putting ball and socket joints together and identifying what kind of animal the owl had eaten before casting out the pellet. One student found seven skulls in his pellet!
After dissecting the owl pellets, the fifth graders sorted and classified the different bones. Putting the prey's skeleton back together was a challenge. They glued it onto construction paper and identified different bones and joints in the skeletal system.
The skeletal system has been the main focus in science for the past few weeks. Students have been learning about different bones and how they work together to make a complete system. Different joints have been identified throughout the skeletal system.
Fifth graders also learned about the functions of different joints. The owl pellet lessons have allowed the students to show what they have learned throughout this unit.
