Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ornithology - Owl Pellet Dissection


Today was the day Grace had been waiting for. August and part of September is her study of owls that is part of her yearly study for Ornithology. Owl pellet dissection is something we have done before, but at that time we opted for the fake plastic version of the bones and faux material that was used for the hair. This go around it was all real. Grace had a large and small pellet to dissect today to count as part of the lab portion of her Ornithology credit. I had to run some errands that mean leaving this whole process in the very capable hands of herself and hubby. By the time I got home the mission was completed.



Grace was thrilled to find multiple skulls in the large pellet. Voles, mice, and a bird. She was also able to identify most of the bones and replicated a skeleton which was glued to the black tag board paper. Grace thoroughly enjoyed this experience. She is also enjoying her current book "Wesley the Owl" about a young biologist that adopted a barn owl at 3 days of age. Wesley lived with her until his death for 19 years. The story chronicles the life of a barn owl in captivity and his unbelievable bond with the biologist who raised him.








7 comments:

Sandra said...

We haven't been able to access owl pellets here so had to make do with an online interactive. A real dissection would be so much fun.

Nicole said...

We did owl pellets this summer and it was SO FUN!!

Unknown said...

We haven't gotten to this yet but it looks like fun!

Unknown said...

I remember dissecting owl pellets in school. I am thinking either this year or next we will do an owl unit.
Her skeleton on the black board is great!

Unknown said...

We did this a long time ago and glued our restructured skeleton onto black construction paper. It still hangs in our schoolroom and has been one of our favorite activities.

I think we might just do it again!

Miranda Hupp said...

You know, I have wanted to do this for some time now. I need to take note so I don't forget! Very cool!

Chareen said...

gosh my spouse would enjoy a read of that book. He used to do falconry growing up.

The skeleton looked interesting. Well done