Owl Pellet Discovery Kit

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The Owl Pellet Discovery Kit is a realistic, durable, reusable and multi-use owl pellet model that students can dissect. It acts as a base for a larger project where students design additional bones and pieces. The 3-D models in this kit include a mouse skull, rib bone and femur. Typical owl pellets can also contain beaks, talons and many different bones that are held together by undigested fur which is simulated by a dryer-lint formula in this project. Printer Settings: MakerBot is the printer brand used for this project. The MakerBot Replicator 2 was the specific printer model employed. Rafts were used to ensure proper printing, but supports were not necessary. Designing This Kit/Design Tips: I designed these models using 123D Design and 123D Catch based on a real owl pellet dissection with actual bones. To avoid problems during printing, I recommend placing a base under any bones that are lopsided or unbalanced. If there is overhang, add a support which can be snipped off after printing. Flipping a bone upside down for printing can also eliminate overhangs. For 123D Catch, take sufficient photographs to create your model - Catch will prompt you if more photos are required to generate the mesh. 123D Design's capabilities allow you to add intricate parts to your design and manipulate them, but you can also work with basic shapes. For the skull model included here, I inverted the piece after completion of the design to ensure printing would have a steady base. A raft was added for printing of the very thin, small rib bone and femur - the rafts easily snapped off after printing but gave a solid foundation during printing and until cool. Students will learn to dissect owl pellets and identify bones; advanced students or higher grade levels will also design a new replica piece, modeled upon a picture of a small rodent bone or bird skeleton, for inclusion in the dissection pellet. Dissecting a real Owl Pellet takes extreme care to reveal many fragile bones and non-digestible pieces. Objectives: Students in 4th-8th grade will be expected to 3-D print the bones included here as well as creating one new bone/piece of their own (this can be done individually or in small groups). Students can use a photo of a bone to design a replica. They are expected to print their newly designed bone for inclusion in the pellet, thus the collection of bones available for future pellet dissections continues to increase and becomes varied. Students will then create an owl pellet (recipe provided) including the 3-D printed items and then through dissection identify the pieces they discover. If students are given random assortments of 3-D printed items each group or individual will have a unique set of pellet contents. Students in 2nd-4th grade can also complete this project with focus being on the dissection and identification process; teachers can prepare pellets ahead of time for this lesson. Audiences: Grades 4-8 are able to complete this entire project. For younger audiences it can be simplified, while older students can take on more complex designs. Materials Needed: The Owl Pellet Discovery Kit includes a mouse skull, rib bone and femur models that can be 3-D printed. Students will also need to create their own new bone or non-digestible part of the student's choosing (grades 4-8). This can be done individually or in small groups depending on design skill level of students and accessibility of computers. Step-by-Step Overview: 1. 3-D Print the 3 bone models provided in this project. 2. Creation of a new or unique bone or non-digestible part of the student's choosing (grades 4-8) 3. 3-D Print student's newly designed bones, talons or beaks. 4. Prepare Owl Pellet "recipe" (found under References). 5. Assemble replica Owl Pellets using printed pieces and pellet recipe. 6. Allow for drying time of at least 48 hours, possibly 60-72 for pellets to be ready for dissection. 7. Dissect the pellet including Identification of contents. Duration: This project could take 5 hours of classroom time and should be incorporated and interwoven with lecture and discussion within the Animal Studies or Biology curriculum. 1 hour Printing (for 3 bone models provided here) 2 hours Design (new pellet creations) 20-25 minutes to print new creation (per item) 30-45 minutes (preparation of multiple pellets) up to 1 hour Dissection. There is also a drying time for pellet mixture of 48-60 hours - leaving pellets to dry over a weekend would be ideal.