Experiential learning and Owl Pellets...

Just so we are clear, this is not faeces... This is an Owl Pellet. What is that you ask?

Pellets are small, sausages-shaped objects, containing the undigested parts of the birds' food which are ejected through the mouth. Not faeces!

Why am I blogging about this?

Well... during my last science seminar session I dissected this pellet and no matter how unappealing it looked, I thoroughly the enjoyed the experiential learning! First hand experiences are valuable to children and I believe that it is good practice to include experiential learning with the classroom, as much as possible.

We used tweezers, plastic gloves, petri dishes and magnifier to dissect and examine the pellet.

Inside the pellet we bone fragments from the different mammals a owl consumed.

Next we used a key, provided by our tutor to identify which mammal the owl had eaten before he regurgitated this pellet.

This is a great activity to do with children as they could create a food chain using this information.

Tip: On twitter I found a great idea. You can make a stackable food chain from polystyrene cups!

This experience has developed my own pedagogy as I see the value in first hand experiences therefore this will become my target for professional practice. I will aim provide children with first hand experiences as this will aid their holistic development.

#TS3 #TS2 #TS1 #TS5 #TS8