Owl Pellet Investigation

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Owl Pellet Investigation
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Can you identify what an owl ate from the
contents of an owls pellet?
Question
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Research

• Using 3 complete sentences, summarize what you
  learned from the research article.

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Hypothesis

• If I dissect an owl pellet, then

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Experiment

• Safety The owl pellet you are dissecting has
  been dried and fumigated. It has been sterilized
  and does not contain any disease carrying
  organisms.
• Make sure pellets remain on paper plates
• Wash hands upon completion!

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Experiment

• Read it.do it
• Complete data chart
• Organize the bones into groups and re -
  construct the evidence

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Procedure

• Open your owl pellet.
• Observe and measure the owl pellet and record
  your measurements and observations on your data
  sheet.
• Using your tools, gently break the owl pellet and
  carefully separate the bones, skull, fur, and
  feathers.
• Organize the bones into groups and record the
  number of bones found.
• Use the skeleton guide to try to fit the bones
  together to make skeletons.
• Mount your skeleton on the card stock provided.
• Identify the type of animal and give him/her a
  name.

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CLEAN UP!

• Put your group on your plates
• Leave the toothpick foil on the plates
• Stack one plate on top of the other.
• Return all other materials to cart
• Pointy probe
• Blunt probe
• Tweezers
• Ruler
• Bone Charts
• Place your groups plates in the bottom cabinet
  under the Lab group 2 sign
• Wash your hands!

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CLEAN UP!

• Place your groups plates w/ card in the bottom
  cabinet
• Throw away toothpicks foil
• Return all other materials to basket in center of
  table
• Pointy probe
• Blunt probe
• Tweezers
• Ruler
• Bone Charts
• Glue
• Wash your hands!

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Procedure

• Organize the bones into groups and record the
  number of bones found.
• Use the skeleton guide to try to fit the bones
  together to make skeletons.
• Mount your skeleton on the card stock provided.
• Identify the type of
• animal and label. Be sure to
• put your names on the back.

Rodent
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Conclusion

• Answer the following in the form of a paragraph.
• Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not?
• What did your owl consume?
• Assuming you collect all the owl pellets dropped
  from an owl for a year, what information could be
  obtained from the owl pellets?

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Analysis

• Write a paragraph that describes how the prey was
  captured. Your paragraph can be from the
  perspective of the predator or the prey.
• Construct a diagram of a food web (use at least 5
  animals) with an owl at the uppermost trophic
  level. Use an arrow to show which organism is
  receiving the energy.
• If you were a farmer, explain why it could be
  beneficial to have a barn owl? (Provide at least
  3 supportive details)