Activity 78: Coughing Up Clues Challenge What can an owl pellet tell you about an owl’s diet? How can you use this information to develop part of a food web?

vocabulary Food Chain - Diagram that shows the flow of energy from one organism to the next. Food Web - Diagram that shows the flow of energy for all organisms in an ecosystem Energy Flow – the transfer of energy from one organism to the next Predator – organism that eats another organism Prey – organism that is eaten by another organism

What is an Owl Pellet?? Click on me!

Why Owl Pellets? We are going to use owl pellets to create a food web.

Why do organisms need energy to live?? It provides nutrients for growth and development It provides energy for daily activities It provides the energy for cellular activities Where does our energy come from??

Producer versus Consumer Producers make their own food Photosynthesis or Chemosynthesis Examples: plants, algae, phytoplankton Consumers need to eat other organisms Herbivores – eat plants Carnivores – eat meat Omnivores – eat both plants and animals

What is this diagram?? What do you think the arrows represent?? Do you know the difference between a food chain and a food web?? Versus.

Things to know… All energy on the Earth comes from the sun Producers (plants, phytoplankton, algae, etc.) make up the base of any food chain/web! Arrows show you where the energy is going! (NOT WHO EATS WHO!)

How complicated can a food web be??

Remember! 1. Do not eat any food during class. 2. Be careful when manipulating the pointed sticks. 3. Wash all tables and hands with soap and water before leaving class.

Follow the Procedure on page E-38. Dissecting the Pellet: Materials: PELLET 4 Wooden sticks Petri Dish 4 pair of gloves Follow the Procedure on page E-38.

Owl Pellet Dissection Leader Recorder Getter Cleaner Make sure your group is following the procedure on page 38. Record the bones that your group finds on a sheet of paper. Use the Key to identify your bones Get: one owl pellet One tray One wooden stick for each member of your group One dichotomous key Return the wooden sticks Make sure all waste is in the garbage Make sure that the tables are wiped clean. When your group is cleaned up, please answer analysis #2, 3 and 4 in your notebook. Make sure to use complete sentences!

Analysis #2

Analysis #3a Shortly after the owl population increases and starts eating prey, the population of prey begins to decline. Later, as owls begin to outstrip its food supply, allowing prey to recover partially. Eventually they both reach an equilibrium

Analysis #3b Shortly after the owl population increases, providing extra food for predators, those predators are likely to increase also. When owls decline later, so would their predators. Eventually, an equilibrium between the owl population and predators is reached.

Possible analysis #5

Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/inde x.htm