Week 17 - Owl Pellet Dissection
/This week we moved into a writing unit on folktales. We have been reading samples of folktales, fairy tales, and fables, and we made a list of the common features that are used in these types of stories. We began writing our own folktales, and Henry began writing the script for our class play (which will be based on a folktale story). In math, we have been practicing dividing 3- and 4-digit numbers, and we’ve been learning a few different strategies to create easier numbers for mental division.
We finished our research of native Oregon animals and each student presented the information they had learned. Some students gave oral reports to summarize their notes, while others created slideshow presentations or a visual poster with facts they learned.
We learned about what owl pellets are and how they can be used to determine what types of animals are included in an owl’s diet. We made predictions of what types of animal bones we would find and then we each got to dissect an owl pellet. We cleaned off all the bones and identified which type of bone each one was and to what animal we think it belonged. We will be combining each student’s data and creating a class graph of which bones were most common. The Sea Lions enjoyed the owl pellet exploration so much that we might get to dissect a few more pellets this next week. We will also be learning about food webs and how each animal in an ecosystem is interconnected with the others.
Outside choice time included digging holes, engineering ways to capture rainfall, climbing the cedar tree, playing a “zombie” tag game, imaginative “Harry Potter” creative play, and more!
