Look Whooo's in Upper Core?

The Upper Core class studied owls today (27 Jan 2012). We missed Madi - get better soon, Madi and welcomed Molly, a guest of the Hansens.

We learned that the Elliott family had a Great Horned Owl fall into their chicken coop earlier this week. Luckily there was only one casualty!

We learned:

• there are owls everywhere in the world except Antarctica.
• owls live in varied habitats, from forests to jungles, to deserts.
• there are two families of owls - typical (round faces) and barn (heart-shaped faces).
• owls are great hunters because they have big eyes that let in a lot of light to see in the dark, their feathers are extra soft so the air doesn't make noise as it passes through their wings, and they have very large ear holes for excellent hearing.
• owls can even hear animals moving underground.
• the fur and bones of the prey they eat can't be digested. Owls throw up wads of this undigested material which are called pellets.
• owls can't move their eyes. Some owls can move their heads 3/4 of the around.
• owls are nocturnal.
• most owls camouflage themselves well.

We read:

• Owls by Kevin Holmes
• The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Whoo Goes There? by Jennifer Ericsson
• WOW! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

We:

• did an art project based on The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston.
• listened to different owls at owlpages.com.
• dissected owl pellets! One pellet had the skeletons of two mice. The other two pellets had skeletons of something bigger, maybe a shrew or a vole. Super cool!

Enjoy the pictures!

Doing yoga with Sister Brady

Melody

Gavin

Owl pellet being dissected by McCoy.

Naomi and Molly (guest) dissecting their pellet.

Gavin and Max investigating the mice bones in their owl pellet.

Sister Brady reading during snack time.

McCoy watercoloring a barn owl.