From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack’s teacher asked for parent volunteers to help out in his science class. My husband and I got to help Jack, and the rest of his class, dissect owl pellets. It sounded gross, but definitely interesting to our nine year old.
I wasn’t exactly sure what an owl pellet was, but I learned it’s basically a hairball filled with bones. The owl coughs up the hairball because it can’t be digested. Have I completely disgusted you yet?
Each student pair got a dried (and sanitized) owl pellet, tweezers, picks and a magnifying glass. The students were nervous at first, but soon they all used their kit and fingers to pull apart the owl pellet and examined the contents. Each team had a bone-sorting chart with species-specific pictures of skulls, jaws, teeth, vertebrae, limbs, hips, ribs and other bones to help identify their findings.
Jack and his partner enjoyed finding all types of rodent, shrew, and mole bones. The pellet was about the size of a small egg. Inside there were three full skulls, a dozen ribs, numerous teeth and vertebrae. It was gross at first, but quickly became fascinating to the students. Each student glued their bones on a piece of paper and labeled their findings.
It was amusing to hear the students talk among themselves. Some students shouted, “Wow, look at this skull!” or “Ewwwww look at those sharp teeth.” I think all of Jack’s classmates really enjoyed their lab. It was fun to be hands on and helping out in the classroom. I was a little hesitant about owl pellets, but it was neat to watch Jack and his friends learn in their science lab together.