Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Learning Target
(HS-LS2-4) I can use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling
of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
Guiding Question
How are matter and energy transferred in an ecosystem?
1
● Gloves (optional) ● Toothpicks ● Tweezers ● Poster chart for sorting
Directions:
1. Put your gloves on (this is optional).
2. Unwrap the owl pellet and place it on the plate/tray.
3. Carefully start to dissect the owl pellet.
a. Use your fingers first, as the toothpick or tweezers might damage the bones!
4. Extract the bones and place them carefully on the napkin. Place similar bones together.
5. Put the excess feathers/fur on the side (this will be thrown away).
6. Once you have extracted all the bones, look at the charts to help you identify the bones.
a. NOTE: some bones might be broken and difficult to identify, just try your best!
b. To help you identify the type of organism, use the ruler to measure the jaw bones.
c. Organize the bones by placing them on the chart under the corresponding name of the organism.
7. Once you have identified all the organisms from your owl pellet, estimate the total
number of each organism you have and enter that data under “# found” in Table 1.
a. Ex: if you have 2 mouse jaws, then that is 2 mice. If you have 6 rat hip bones, then you have 3 rats.
8. Calculations: Open the link for the Google Sheet, it will ask you to make a copy.
a. Enter the same data under “# found”. Your data will auto-calculate. Then fill in the rest of Table 1.
b. Enter the data for the biomass of your organisms in Table 2 below.
2
He ate more rats than anything else.
3. Did you find a complete skeleton? Explain two reasons why you may not find a whole
skeleton in one owl pellet.
Yes we found a whole rat skeleton.
4. Other types of birds form pellets. What would you expect to find in the pellet of a
seagull?
I would expect to find fish bones.
5. How many animals found in owl pellets were herbivores? Omnivores? Carnivores?
Five
6. How would an organism that is considered prey, benefit from a top predator?
Because the top predator can eat it.
7. Which trophic level gains the most amount of energy? Explain why.
The producers gain the most amount of energy.
Guiding Question
How are matter and energy transferred in an ecosystem?
3
A score of 2 means you 1) Topic and Content ❏ Answered the challenge
did everything you were My argument has a question?
knowledgeable and ❏ Real-world examples or
supposed to but your applications used not from the
answer may have used thoughtful response to the
class activity.
some vocabulary learning target(s) and guiding ❏ Score 80% or above on the Unit
incorrectly or your use question(s). quiz.
of evidence was unclear ❏ Supported my argument with
2) Use of Evidence and information that was not
or missing some
Analysis provided in class and cited
important details. correctly.
My argument is supported by
information from the ❏ Used all score 4 vocabulary.
provided class resources You need at least 3 boxes
and class activities. checked from the above boxes
to have a chance at earning a
grade of 4 if you got a 3 on
everything else.
IMPORTANT! Any information used that is NOT learned from class MUST be cited or
you will have to redo the assignment! You must use YOUR OWN WORDS.
Required Vocabulary: If you do not use ALL of the Score 2 words you will get NO CREDIT.