Sixth-graders take care of owls, and learn in the process: What a hoot!
Published in: News Herald (Panama City, FL)
Date: 4/29/2007
By: Donna Vavala
Asixth-grade class at Surfside Middle School gives a hoot about owls. The kids took a tutorial on the nocturnal birds and expanded on it in a big way. They constructed and painted a 2-by-3-foot wooden box they hope will be home to an owl family.
A bucket truck hoisted the box into a pine tree on campus last week to position it so the opening faces some second-floor classrooms. The location was chosen for optimum viewing and maybe filming when owls take up residence.
“It could take six months to two years before owls move in,” said teacher Suzanne McDonald, who said a study unit on the nocturnal creature has been a huge hit with students.
In addition to building the owl box, the class watched a video on owls, researched them online, created brochures full of owl facts for fun, adopted a one-eyed owl named Hunter from an organization called Bird Buddies — an adoption certificate on the blackboard is proof — and dissected owl pellets to learn what owls eat.
McDonald described the pellets, dried contents regurgitated by an owl, as about the size of an egg. Each student got one to dissect, along with tweezers, a magnifying glass and sheets showing the body parts of a variety of small animals on which owls prey. They glued the parts to the sheets as they identified them. “The pellets have been sanitized,” McDonald said. “It was kind of nasty, but fun,” said Emily Slaughter. “I found a bunch of skulls from a mole, a shrew and a bird.” “They can swallow a rat whole,” said Jesse Booth. Others were impressed by owls’ movements and their prowess as hunters. “I think it’s pretty cool the way they can spin their head all the way around,” said Jacob Masters. “They can see perfectly in the dark,” said Jacob Moore. “They’re raptors and they always get their prey. Those little fellows don’t have a chance when they’re running away.”
Student Nick Prestigiacomo was one of the lead carpenters on the project. He said he had some experience helping his dad.
The class went outside Tuesday to paint the owl box, which was built from a kit McDonald sent for. McDonald had a quart of dark green paint and one of brown — donated by Flagella Hardware — so the kids could paint a camouflage pattern. She passed out rubber gloves and brushes to each class member.
It didn’t take long before the exterior was painted and so were some students’ arms and faces.
“It was an accident,” said one boy, exhibiting a green forearm.
The class is one of several Achieving Success through Prevention, Intervention, Remediation and Enrichment, or ASPIRE, classes at Surfside Middle School and around the county.
“It’s for children who are struggling academically,” McDonald said. “We hope to get them up to grade level and hope their FCAT scores go up. We’re getting them interested in learning.”
McDonald said there have been several breakthroughs in her class since the owl tutorial.
“One student was failing,” she said. “He was getting 40s and 50s on his tests. He scored an 86 on the owl test.”
One girl in the class never spoke until she was inspired to talk by the owl study. Another boy who was shy blossomed.
“All of them were interested in doing research and reading about owls,” McDonald said. “If we get an owl family, I want to write a grant to get a camera to film it. I hope this will be an ongoing experiment for Surfside.”