Get Outside!

Owl Pellets

Class Description:

This activity offers a chance for students to dissect sterilized Barn owl pellets. Each pellet contains a small mammal skeleton which students reconstruct, glue on cards, and bring home (to delighted parents). Download this lesson plan.

Outcomes

Upon completion of the Owl Pellets evening activity students will be able to:

  • Understand the role and adaptations of owls in the ecosystem.
  • Understand the concept of a food web.
  • Dissect an owl pellet.
  • Identify small mammal skulls and bones using a bone identification chart.

Minnesota Graduation Standards

Wolf Ridge has aligned the Center's entire curriculum to Minnesota Department of Education Academic Standards. As the primary student audience at Wolf Ridge is from 4th-12th grade, the matrices address these grade levels. Teachers may request that their students focus upon a specific benchmark while attending Wolf Ridge. The Wolf Ridge Curriculum Standards Matrix addresses benchmarks in

  • Science
  • Math
  • History and Social Science
  • Language Arts
  • Arts

Wolf Ridge Curriculum Concepts

  • Biodiversity. A complex natural system (food web) is more stable than a simple one and more able to absorb disturbances.
  • Ecological adaptations. All living things acquire physical and behavioral adaptations to be successful in their environment.
  • See entire Wolf Ridge Curriculum Framework

photo1

Time
1-1/2 hours
indoors

Audience
4th grade - adult

Activity level
easy

Travel
none

Total uphill travel
none