Teacher: __Carly Alexander
__ Grade: _3rd_ Cohort: _22_ Date: _May 17, 2011____
Subject/Lesson Title:_Disecting Owl Pellets Lesson Time:_3 x 45 min_# Students:__22__
Instructional Model: Problem Based Instructional Level: I– D -M
Curriculum Context
Long Term Goals:
Students are becoming familiar with bones and skeletons and are able to see the similarities
and differences between their own skeletons and skeletons of other animals.
EALRs/GLEs:
 2-3 SYSD Some objects need to have their parts connected in a certain way if that are
to function as a whole.
 2-3 SYSE Similar parts may play different roles in different objects, plants, or
animals.
 2-3 INQA Scientific investigations are designed to gain knowledge about the natural
world.
 2-3 LS3A There are variations amound the same kinds of plants and animals
Short Term Learning Targets/Objective(s) for This Lesson:
Given the bones found by dissecting an owl pellet
 students will build a skeleton of the animal bones found in the pellet
 compare the bones in the pellet to the human skeleton
and record one that is similar
and one that is different
 and determine what animal they found in their owl pellet
with 100% accuracy.
Assessment Plan:
Pre-Assessment:
The class when to the computer lab with Mrs. Wells last week and did a virtual owl pellet
dissection. They have also be successful at learning the names of the bones in the human
skeleton, I think that they will really enjoy this activity and finding mouse bones that are
similar to our own bones.
Formative Assessment:
As students are finding bones in the owl pellets, they will start to recognized them (since
there are pairs and groups of many of the bones) and using their rodent skeleton guide know
what part of the body the bone should go. The students are showing their ability to go slowly
so that the find the most bones.
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Summative Assessment: (How does this indicate successful mastery of learning targets?):
 In pairs, students will glue the bones they find in the pellet to black paper in the order
of the skeleton. (It is likely that some bones will be missing or broken).
 After completely dissected their pellets and completed their skeleton students will
complete an owl pellet observation worksheet with 100% accuracy.
Time:
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Opening
Set/Hook:
Put an owl pellet under the document camera, ask students to raise hands to give
answers to following questions:
5 min
What are some words that describe what an owl pellet looks like?
Can anyone tell me what they think they are going to find when dissecting their
pellets?
 Fill out worksheet under document camera as entire class.
I’ve made a short slideshow for you to see what some of the owls and the sounds they
make.


2 min
1 min
Activating Prior Knowledge:
Owls are referred to as Birds of Prey, meaning that they eat other animals. What kind
of animals do you think owls eat? (What kind of skeleton did you find when you
dissected the owl pellet in the computer lab last week?
(http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm).)
Communicating Learning Targets: (Explicit statement of what is being taught and why it is
important)
We are going to dissect owl pellets to find what kind of animals the owl had for lunch.
We will use the bones of the animal to build its skeleton. You are going to see that
even a mouse or whatever you find in your owl pellet will have a skeleton similar to you,
me, and Mr. Bones.
Instructional Materials, Resources, and Technology:
 Document camera; smartboard/whiteboard
 Owl pellets – 1 for each pair of students (11 for Mrs. Wells’ class) and one for
class demonstration
 One paper plate for each pair
 Two paperclips for each pair
 Black construction paper (one piece for each pair)
 Northwest Owls slideshow
 Another teacher or parent volunteer for this activity is a good idea
 Describing owl pellet worksheet
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Learning Experiences
(Student and teacher actions and interactions during: Instruction, Checking for Understanding, Questioning Strategies, Guided
Practice, Discovery, Transitions and Independent Practice.)
OWL PELLET DISSECTION Part I
Teacher Tasks
3 min
1 min
Under document camera,
show the progress on
dissected owl pellet. Show
the pile of hair left over
and the bones that I have
laid out on black
construction paper. Point
out some of the major
bones and their names.
Student Tasks
Students are quiet and
paying close attention so
that they can be successful
at finding a skeleton in
their owl pellet.
Show how to unbend
paperclip to make
dissection tool.
Spend three or four
minutes sorting through
the hair looking for the
tiny bones. Remind the
students that this takes
some time and to go slow.
When you find a few bones
of interest, name them. Do
this with three or four
bones.
3 min
Divide students into
partners and assign them
workspace around the
classroom.
Students need to be
focused and quiet during
dissection demonstration.
Remind them that to get a
complete skeleton they
are going to have to be
patient and go slow.
Remind students that the
pellets have been bake at
a very high heat so they
are clean and it is safe to
touch the fur and bones
with their hands.
Show how to break off a
part of the pellet and then
use the dissection tool to
separate the hair from the
bones.
4 min
Management,
Modification,
Differentiated Instruction
Students pair up and move
to their assigned
workspaces.
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Give each pair a paper
plate, two paperclips, and
owl pellet.
2 min
1 min
Have students unbend
paperclips to make
dissection tool and unwrap
their owl pellets.
Have students decide on
who is dissecting first and
have them break of a chunk
of the pellet.
Tell students that both
partners need to be looking
out for bones no matter
who is doing the dissection.
20
min (5
min
for
each
dissec
tion
turn)
The teacher will announce
to the class when it time
switch who is doing the
dissecting. Each student
should have at least two
turns at dissecting.
Students each unbend one
of the two paper clips.
Students start by breaking
first chunk off pellet.
It’s really important that
students are paying
attention to this activity
so they can find as many
bones as possible.
This is not a good time to
be talking to another
group.
Students take a turn
dissecting for about 5
minutes a turn.
Walk throughout the
classroom helping groups
identify which are bones
and pushing the hair to one
side of the plate. (Another
teacher or parent
volunteer is nice for this
activity.) Make sure you
acknowledge students’
hands that are up letting
them know you are on your
way.
Do not get out of your
seats, you could accidently
bump someone else that is
working hard on their
dissection.
Raise your hand if you
need help or have a
question.
Mrs. Wells and I will be
walking around the room
to help and answer
questions.
Remind students that it is
too early to throw away any
part of the pellet and it is
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not time to put any hair in
the garbage yet.
CLOSURE
Remind the students that we will be cleaning up 10 minutes before moving on the next
task of the day. They need to make sure that both partners names are on their paper
plates and set carefully out of the way around the classroom. Students should not
throw any of the hair or bones away. Leave everything, including your paperclips on
the paper plate. (We will be continuing dissecting our owl pellets tomorrow before we
glue our bones onto paper.)
Management/Logistical Issues (state specific behavioral expectations):
 Remind the students that in order to find as many bones as possible it’s important they
are slow, using a whisper with the partners, and are carefully following directions.
 Partners will be assigned so that students are able to focus their best.
 Ask that students stay at their seats while dissection. Mrs. Wells and I will be walking
throughout the room to answer questions.
Accommodations/Modifications [list individuals on learning plans (IEP, 504, Behavior Plans, etc.) and
specify learning tasks that match those plans as it relates to your learning targets]:
 Pair Arriana with a strong English speaker.
 Get Mrs. Wells help for assigning partners so that the pairs work together and are
better able to keep on task.
Differentiated Instruction [How did you differentiate instruction in your lesson (be specific)? Explain in
what way(s) it was differentiated (content, process, product).]:
 Complete observation of the owl pellet as a class, instead of individually completely the
introductory worksheet.
 Showed an example of dissecting and what the bones they’ll be finding look like.
Family Interactions:
Self-Reflection of Teaching:
Thinking About This Lesson:
There are a lot of parts to this lesson and I agree with Mrs. Wells that two 2 hour blocks
as the FOSS guide suggests is not enough. We did this lesson on May 17 and the skeletons
found in the owl pellets are still not completely glued to the black paper. We have already
spent over 3 hours on this lesson. Thankfully Mrs. Wells has planned that this activity would
take this much time.
The 3rd graders were really excited about the hands-on part of this activity (as any kid
would be) and I found that they were not at all interested in my anticipatory set. I showed
the owl slide show, but we did not work on the questions about what we would find in our owl
pellets as I had plan. Mrs. Wells allowed the class to choose their own partners which worked
out a lot better than I would have thought; the students were reminded to choose partners
Western Washington University Instructional Plan – Seattle Education Center 8/20/10
that they could work well with, Sidney, Wesley, and Andrew know that as much as they would
like to pair-up with their friends, the do not make good working partners.
After the day that I introduced dissecting owl pellets Mrs. Wells spent an hour the next
day having the students finish separating the bones from the rest of the pellet (the fur). We
I returned two days later we started gluing the bones we found onto black construction paper.
Students got really frustrated with the gluing the very small bones that are easy to break,
figuring out which bones were which (femur verses humerus), and that the owl pellets
contained unequal parts of incomplete skeletons. I found an excellent example of a mouse
skeleton glued onto back paper to show on the screen while students were working on their
own mouse skeletons – though I think it would have been easier for us all if the example had
been labeled (ties it to our Mr. Bones lessons) and that I had made it more clear that the
example probably took more than one owl pellet to find the complete skeleton – that our
skeletons might not look exactly like the example.
I revised one of the hand-outs from the FOSS guide for a final assessment to the Owl
Pellet project that the class has not gotten to at this time. I do not know if I will be in class
on the day the skeleton gluing is done, or if Mrs. Wells will even use my final worksheet.
Most people I have talked to say that they did the owl pellet activity in middle school. I
didn’t dissect one until a college biology class two years ago. If the owl pellets weren’t a part
of the FOSS kit and a traditional 3rd grade activity at Kent Elementary I don’t think I would
have done it. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised that the students kept the bones and
fur on their desks while dissecting. Some groups did better jobs than others at being careful
about separating the bones and fur and not breaking the bones, that was a big challenge. (I
think showing the completed mouse skeleton before beginning dissecting would have been
helpful, so we knew exactly what we were looking for. Instead of trying to demonstrate
dissecting with the document camera.)
Thinking Ahead: What did you learn about yourself as a teacher?
This quarter I have made an effort to make more dry runs through my lesson plans before
I give them, and I’ve actually had to read them this quarter. I had thought that teaching had
been more about following the class, but realized that in order to avoid getting flustered I
had to had a set plan concrete in my mind. This lesson, however, I couldn’t follow my plan,
especially because the kids were just too excited to start dissecting. I did this lesson on a
Tuesday. On the previous Thursday the class had been in the computer lab with Mrs. Wells
and done a virtual dissection. If I were to do this lesson in the future I think maybe I would
not mention that owl pellets were going to be the big lesson of the day and I could have used
the virtual owl pellet as the hook for the lesson. As soon as the 3rd grades came in and saw
that owl pellets were written on the schedule that’s all they were focused on. I like the idea
of getting students excited for upcoming lessons, but since the owl pellets what something
completely outside of the daily routine I think writing Science for that time slot would have
been sufficient.
I am glad that I didn’t get flustered when the beginning of my lesson didn’t go as plan
because it was taking too long and students just wanted to get to the hands-on part (this is
kind of a duh on my part, but maybe not telling them we were actually going to dissect our own
pellets would have helped with this). I am also excited to say that I have found it easy to
over plan my lessons, which is way better than not knowing what to do when your plan doesn’t
take up enough time.
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Western Washington University Instructional Plan – Seattle Education Center 8/20/10
Name ____________________________________
OWL PELLET OBSERVATION
Find a bone that is similar to a human bone.
Draw it.
Bone name _________________
Find a bone that is different than a human bone.
Draw it.
Bone name ___________________
What animal did you find in your pellet? _______________________________________________
What bone(s) helped you decide it was that animal? _______________________________________
aklgbnab
______________________________________________________________________________
Western Washington University Instructional Plan – Seattle Education Center 8/20/10