THEN - 2002
I decided my kids should study birds, so I bought a science kit and planned everything. My sister and I even ordered owl pellets for the children to dissect. My friend who lived in a rural area offered me some for free. I refused, claiming I didn't want to bother her, but secretly I was disgusted at the idea. The own pellets I had ordered were sanitized and wrapped in foil and we used tweezers and other tools that came with the kit to remove and identify the bones. My kids enjoyed it, but when we finished they were done with their study of owls.
NOW - 2010
Evan has been really into birds for at least two months. With my older kids I would have called it a "unit study" in our homeschool. Several weeks ago during my morning walk, I noticed something on the sidewalk. I recognized it as an owl pellet and excitedly told Evan about it. He brought it home and we sat on the patio while he dissected it. He was thrilled to find the vertebrae, a ball and socket joint and identify the femur, tibia, fibula etc.
He has also:
- drawn, painted and sculpted lots of birds
- read several bird books
- identified birds using the field guide
- spent hours on bird websites
- caught (and released) wild birds (in that rusty old trap behind him in the photo)
- put up a bird feeder to observe more birds
- trained and cared for his pet parakeet "Scott"
- watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
- found a forgotten science kit and completed several lessons on birds and flight
- dissected an even larger owl pellet he found down the street
One thing's for sure. I definitely have way more gray hair now!
1 comment:
He is welcome to the 5 nests the birds have built around our house. We have squeeking and squaking all day and they have to go. It feels like, The Birds, every time I duck to go through the front door.
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