Elementary science

Grade 4 students learning about animal habitats

Oct. 16, 2012

Students in Mrs. Webster’s & Mrs. Sogoian's fourth grade science class are studying animal habitats.

To fully understand how an animal survives in their natural habitat, the teachers purchased some owl pellets or castings to dissect. Owl pellets are the undigested parts of the owl’s food that they occasionally regurgitate.

The contents of an owl pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth.

Take a close look and see if you can identify an owl’s diet!

The teachers said the unit really engaged the students in hands-on learning. Fourth-graders were overheard saying: “This is awesome!” “I want to do things like this everyday!” “Thank you so much, this is great!”

“I learned that animals regurgitate their food and that means the food they can't digest, they throw up,” Ke'shawn Ward said.

“I learned owls, when they eat the bones, can't digest so the food stays in their body and then they regurgitate it!” said Jacob Personnius.

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