Carolina Biological Supply Company
Picking Apart the Owl Pellet’s Potential
NSTA National Conference 2012
Indianapolis, IN
Objectives
•
Learn what owl pellets are and how they are
formed
•
Discover insights into raptors’
feeding habits and food webs
•
Learn basic form and function
of skeletal system
Owl Pellet Kits
• Owl Pellet
Discoveries Kit,
catalog no. 227840
• Owl Pellet Study Kit,
catalog no. 227830
• Comparative
Skeletal
Anatomy Kit,
catalog no.
221035
• Classroom Owl
Pellet Study Kit,
catalog no. 227891
Have You Experienced . . .
Carolina’s Owl Pellets?
Carolina™ Owl Pellets
Excellent for hands-on,
inquiry-based learning
There’s an App for That
Safety Issues
• Owl pellets have been heat sterilized
at 250° F for 2 hours.
• As an added measure, you may
choose to wear disposable safety
gloves during the dissection.
• Be sure to wash your hands and
clean your work area after handling
the owl pellets.
• Model proper lab safety practices for
your students.
What Do You Know About Owls?
Feathers
Eyesight
Hearing
Feet/Talons
Diet
What Do You Know About Owl Pellets?
Owl pellets are the end
products of an owl’s
digestive process.
Pellets may contain bones,
teeth, hair, feathers,
scales, and insect
skeletons.
How Do Owl Pellets Form?
Can You Describe Each Step?
Owl Pellet Formation
Prey is positioned
head first in the
beak.
Enzymes break down
the prey and nutrients
pass through the
muscular stomach.
Prey is swallowed and
passes through the
esophagus.
Nutrients are
absorbed into the
body from the
intestine. Hair is
pressed around the
bones of the prey.
Prey enters the
glandular stomach.
Waste is excreted
through the vent. Pellet
is orally expelled.
Why Study Owl Pellets?
•
•
•
•
Learn about feeding habits
Study ecosystems
Determine availability of
prey in an area
Learn about wh-o-o-o eats
wh-o-o-o in a food web
Dissection Materials
Observe Your Pellet
•
•
Note color, size, and
texture
Compare to others
at your table
How do they differ?
Begin Dissection
Carefully separate bones from fur.
Categorize Contents of Pellets
Use bone charts to
identify bones and prey.
Using Bone Chart
• Allow ample time for
student-generated
groupings of bones.
• Students compare their
groupings with the
bones on the chart.
Rat Skeleton
Building an Understanding of Food Webs
•
Students use bone
charts to identify what
the owl ate.
•
With observations and
findings recorded in
their science notebook,
students begin building
an understanding of
food webs.
From Resource Manual for Owl Pellet Labs by James P. Key
Record Data
Bone Types
Skulls
Jaws
Scapulae
Pelvis
Ribs
# bones found
3
6
4
12
11
Skull and jaw
types
1 large rat
2 shrews
Observations of non-bone material: light gray fur,
fur not dense, 2 thin white feathers on outside, few
pieces of straw found outside
—Sample notebook entry
Graphing Bones
25
20
Number of bones
found in pellet
15
10
5
0
Skulls
Jaws Scapula Pelvic
Bones
Bone types
Ribs Vertebrae
Making Sense of the Data
• Students share
observations and
recorded data.
• Using openended questions,
the teacher leads
class discussion
to clarify
concepts and
assess student
understanding.
How can this info be used to understand
barn owl ecology?
From Resource Manual for Owl Pellet Labs by James P. Key
Reflecting On What We’ve
Done: A Starter List
Collect class data:
•
Count and graph number of skulls per pellet.
•
How does pellet size relate to quantity of bones in
pellet? Were more skulls found in larger pellets?
•
Whoooo found a ball and socket joint? This is a
good start to a form-and-function discussion of the
skeletal system. Which other bones are distinctive?
Set aside a bone that interests you. Does the bone
help the mouse, vole, or bird move? Hunt? Eat?
What evidence supports your idea?
•
Discuss strategies students used to identify
individual bones. Discuss student-generated rules
and bone charts.
•
Make sure students understand concepts of food
webs and the barn owl’s relationship to other
organisms.
Activity Extensions
•
•
•
•
•
Use bone charts to create articulated
skeleton.
Create a bone display.
Research the natural history and
geographic distribution of prey found
in pellet.
Contact your nearest zoo, nature
museum, natural science center, or
raptor rehabilitation facility. These
organizations often maintain injured
birds of prey and offer presentations.
Have students draw food chains that
end with an owl or food webs that
include an owl.
Additional Resources
Kits, posters,
manuals, Biorama™
preparations, and
much more!
Carolina can
meet “owl”
your needs!
Try Carolina Science Online™ at Our Booth
Carolina Free Resources
Carolina offers many free resources
to help support teachers.