Thursday, December 14, 2017
02:00 - 04:00; 120 min. -
AP Environmental Science:
Owl Pellet -
I questioned Chase on how one would determine what a specific predator ate. To find exactly what an individual predator eats, we have two options. One is to watch the predator continuously, to literally see what they catch and eat, which can be difficult, if not impossible. The other option is to examine their scat. For birds of prey, this is slightly more agreeable, as they will regurgitate pellets, containing the un-digestible parts of their prey. In other predators, the scat is their fecal material, which includes all indigestible parts of their prey. Chase was given a large Barn Owl pellet. She was tasked with weighing, and measuring the pellet. She recorded her data on a data sheet, and proceeded to dissect the pellet; separating the bones from the fur. Once she had isolated some of the large bones, we placed them in a warm soapy bath, to clean. When all bones were cleaned, Chase placed the bones, one by one, onto a paper towel to dry. We did a quick observation and determined we had three skulls. We will work to find a complete vole skeleton for our next lab. Homework: read the scientific report titled: “the water needed to have Italians eat pasta and pizza", and define Virtual water for next Thursday.