Investigating owl pellets is an extremely popular science activity for kids. It's an engaging, educational, and affordable way for educators to incorporate a food chain lesson plan into their science and ecology studies!
Looking for cheap owl pellets to dissect in a group or classroom? The educational materials and foil-wrapped barn owl pellets in this kit are incredibly affordable and provide a wonderful learning experience for a group of kids or for 5-10 students in an elementary, middle school, or high school classroom. As they dissect their owl pellets, students can work either individually or in pairs.
What is an Owl Pellet?
Owls usually swallow their food whole, and depending on the species, they will eat all sorts of insects, small rodents (mice, shrews, voles, etc.) , birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. After swallowing its prey, an owl's body is only able to digest the edible parts of its food. All of the indigestible parts (bones, feathers, shells, scales, teeth, etc.) will form into a pellet, which the owl will later regurgitate, or spit up, through its mouth!
As kids "dig in" to these neat barn owl pellets with their tweezers, they will:
- discover bones from all sorts of critters,
- learn about the foods that barn owls eat,
- place their discoveries on bone sorting charts to better visualize the skeletal anatomy found inside,
- and gain a memorable, hands-on understanding of food webs and the barn owl's digestive system!
This small classroom owl pellet kit includes a 6-page teacher's guide with information on food webs and habitats, the unique anatomy of a barn owl, and three reproducible worksheets.
When you order this owl pellet dissection kit from HST, you'll receive:
- 5 small owl pellets (about 1.25" long)
- A 6-page teacher's guide
- 10 wooden probes
- 5 student worksheets (reproducible for more students) with dissection instructions and a diagram of a rodent skeleton to help identify bones
All of these cheap owl pellets are wrapped in foil and heat sterilized to ensure that you receive an excellent, safe, and high-quality dissection activity for your kids.
You can purchase multiple owl pellet dissection kits based on the size of your classroom, or just order extra small owl pellets.
Safety Information: Our owl pellets have been dry heat sterilized for a minimum of 4 hours at 250°F to kill bacteria and viruses naturally present. Still, we highly recommend that you follow these guidelines when working with them:
- Work in a place separate from eating and food preparation areas.
- Use disposable latex gloves or nitrile gloves during the dissection and cleanup.
- Keep the pellet on a disposable tray or plate. Do not dissect directly on desks or table tops.
- Use only dissection tools provided. Don't let children use pencils or other personal items for dissection. Kids like to use our economical plastic forceps to take apart the owl pellet.
- Use a sanitizer with paper towels or disposable sanitizing wipes to thoroughly wash hands, work areas, and any dissection tools when finished. Household bleach in a 1:10 solution can be used as a sanitizer.
- Make sure everyone thoroughly washes their hands with soap and water after the dissection and cleanup.
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