Owl Pellet Lab (4th/5th grades)

Owl Pellet Lab

To Start:

Directions:

1. Carefully place the items in the bag on your desk.
2. Make sure you have your spiral and a pencil.

Observations:

Directions:

1. Write your name and date in top right corner.
2. Write the title centered on the top line.
3. Pull out the parts of the lab.
4. Go to this website, read and watch the lab: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/owl-pellet-dissection-project/#video
5. Measure the length and width of your owl pellets: 
6. Length of your owl pellet_______
7. Width of your owl pellet_______
8. Carefully examine the exterior of the pellet. Do you see any signs of fur? __________ 
9. Do you see any signs of feathers? ____________
10. What color was your pellet?  _____________
11. Put your pellet on a piece of paper towel.  Carefully use a probe to break apart the owl pellet and observe what is in it.
12. Use a probe to expose all bones for identification. Because some of the bones are so tiny and fragile, if you are not careful, you could either lose or crush a bone.  Use forceps (tweezers) and a probe to do this.  Put the fur aside for disposal.  
13. Organize the bones into groups (skulls, ribs, vertebrae, leg bones) and label them.
    
    
    14. Use the bone diagram to help you identify your bones and assemble the bones on construction paper as shown by the bone sorting chart. 
    
    
    15. Decide how many prey animals you have and record this information on the chart. You may only have one. If more than one, try to sort the bones to go with the skulls.  Glue them to the construction paper.
    
    
    16. Next identify your prey animal using the identification guide hung up around the room. Look at the:
        Shape and size of the skull
        Shape of eye sockets
        Length of the snout compared to the rest of the skull 
    
    
    17. Your Grade will be based on neatness, labeling and organization.

Analysis:  Continue writing in your Science Spiral.

18. What do we know about the digestive system of an owl based upon the pellets?

19. Owl pellets not only can give us information about the diet of the owl, owl pellets also provide a habitat for other animals, in fact an owl pellet is a little ecosystem all on its own. What kind of animals are found in the owl pellet ecosystem.  (Hint: read the background at the beginning)

20. Other types of birds form pellets. What would you expect to find in the pellet of a seagull?

21. Owls, hawks, and eagles are types of raptors, animals which have hooked beaks and sharp claws, and are therefore adapted for seizing prey animals. Hawks and eagles differ from owls in that they eat their prey animals by tearing them into small pieces, picking out the flesh and avoiding most of the fur and bones. They also have strong stomachs which can digest most of the bone material which they might eat. The relatively small amount of indigestible bone and fur that remain will be compacted by their stomach muscles into a pellet similar to the owl's. Do you think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owls? Why or why not?

22. Construct a diagram of a food web (of at least 5 animals) with an owl at the uppermost trophic level. Use an arrow to show which organism is the consumer or predator.

23. How might learning more about the barred owl's diet (what it eats) help us preserve the animal? 

24. Based on the data, how would you describe the diet of the owl?

25. What does the data tell us about the habitat of the owl? 

26. Based on the information and data in this lab, do you think that we could have owls here in Maryland Heights?     Explain your answer.

 BONUS QUESTION

27. If you were a zoologist doing a study of what deer eat, how would you collect your data?

1. Tape a copy of the Owl Pellet Chart in your spiral:http://biologycorner.com/resources/Owl_Pellet_Bone_Chart_grid.pdf
2. Place a check next to the bones and items you find.
3. Throw away unwanted debris when finished.
4. Have a picture taken of the items you found.
5. Place the picture in your spiral. Label the parts.
6. Listen to the many different sounds owls make:http://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=10
7. How do owl pellets (or 'owl sick') help scientists learn about Australia's climate in the past?http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Snowy_Owl#p00bng2w

Sources for part of lesson copied and adapted from:
https://dj003.k12.sd.us/science%20labs/owl%20pellet/owl%20pelletbonehortingchart.htm