Investigating Ecosystems: Hands-On Exploration through Owl Pellet Dissection
Help me give my students owl pellet dissection kits so they can identify ecological relationships while reconstructing skeletons of mammal prey.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Gens's classroom raised $352
This project is fully funded
My Project
For this project, I am asking for owl pellet dissection kits for the classroom as they are an excellent way to engage my curious students in scientific inquiry and enhance their learning experience. This activity not only helps students understand predator-prey relationships but also provides insight into how scientists can determine information about the environment an organism lives in based on its diet.
The goal of this activity is to engage my students in scientific thinking by providing them with hands-on experience in identifying prey species, analyzing food webs, and interpreting ecological relationships.
By dissecting owl pellets, students learn about the importance of scientific inquiry and how scientists use data to draw conclusions. As students analyze the owl pellet contents, they will make inferences about the environment in which the owl lives. Students will act like scientists using evidence from the owl pellets to also draw conclusions about the how the owl impacts its environment through predator/prey relationships.
Students will learn about the different types of prey species that owls consume by identifying the bones and other remains of the prey and using this information to determine what the owl has been eating. This deeper learning of the predator/prey relationship also allows students to map out food webs and have a better understanding of the complex relationships within an ecosystem.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Gens and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
