Wonder of the Week:

What are Owl Pellets?

Two Mondays ago I had the great pleasure of discovering owl pellets with my first graders. One of the best part of my jobs is the learning curve.  I am always discovering new things right along side my students.  I had not given owl pellets much thought, but thought they would be a fun way to get the kids wondering about animals in a deeper, more complex way.

I started by placing an owl pellet on each table.  The kids put on their scientist hat and thought about what they noticed about the pellet.  They considered the texture, size, weight, etc. as they considered what the object might be.  The students recorded their observations and predicted what it might by.  A couple of the kindergarteners guessed that our object was an owl pellet, but no one knew where the pellet came from.  We watched a video of a baby owl spitting out an owl pellet.  As you can imagine the kids were excited and disgusted at the same time.

After talking about what an owl pellet is and why an owl needs to spit it up, it was time to start dissecting the pellet.  The first graders loved finding various animal bones and using them to predict what the owl ate.  I loved it too.  I was just as excited by every new bone as the kids were.

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I am so glad to finally start class with my amazing first graders.  We have a great group and I know that we will all learn a lot from each other.

This year we are going to focus on developing our curiosity, to engage in wonder.  Each week we will focus on a new wonder.  I look forward to seeing where our wonders will take us.

On our first day, the kids each brought in something to share that they wonder about.  It was a great way to jump start our zest for questions.  Below you will see some of the things the first graders are wondering about.  I can’t wait to see how their initial list compares to their list at the end of the year.

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Our first wonder to us into the world of lizards, specifically the chameleon.  We wanted to discover why a chameleon changes color.  Most of the kids predicted that they changed color to blend in with their surroundings, for protection.  We discovered that chameleons are actually quite fast and can generally run away from predators.  Chameleons actually change colors to help regulate their temperature and to communicate how they are feeling.

The first graders went through a Nearpod to learn the reasons that a chameleon changes color, but also how they change colors.  They learned some cool new words: Chromatophore, contract, and expand.  Here they are researching.

We used colored poly-folders to see how pigments can layer and change colors.  Here is Brandon sharing something he observed.  We learned that a chameleon will become darker when cold to absorb more heat and warm up, or turn lighter when they are too hot and want to cool down.

We had about 5 minutes at the end of the day, so we had to add a quick tech piece.  The kids that were done with their work used Chatterkid on the iPad.  They took a picture of their chameleon and made it talk using the Chatterkid app. Click on the play buttons to hear some examples.