Perdido Elementary fifth graders in Jill Jones science classes have recently been studying ecosystems. As a follow-up to what they had learned in the book, students used a hands-on approach to solving a mystery of “What the owls ate.” Each group of students were given the opportunity to dissect owl pellets to discover what the owl ate and what part it, the predator, and prey play in the ecosystem. The students found bones of voles, mice, birds, and shrews within the pellets. They then sorted the bones according to type and animal, using a chart to compare their findings. Mrs. Jones has proven once again that reinforcing what students have learned in books and online research, is retained much better when students’ understanding is reinforced with hands-on experiments. According to Perdido School officials, 100 percent of her students from last year, scored a ‘3’ or ‘4’ on the Alabama Science Assessment!
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:30:00 +0000