Scat!
A few weeks ago, we discussed and explored the role of teeth in the maintenance of a healthy body. During those discussions we separated various animal species into three categories: carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores (plant eaters) and omnivores (meat and plant eaters) and looked at the need for different kinds of teeth to consume different kinds of food.
This week, we are examining scat (poop) to see how different diets are digested within the body of an animal and then evacuated by the animal to leave different configurations of scat. While this subject may seem distasteful to adults, poop is often fascinating to young children and this lesson will remind a child that every animal needs to evacuate the elements of its diet that are not nutritious or absorbable and that, by carefully observing scat discovered on a walk out in the woods or in the fields, one might be able to determine if the scat came from a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore.
We will have several actual examples of scat carefully encased in plastic bags so the children can examine them gently with magnifying glasses.
- Carnivore (owl) owl pellets that have been regurgitated. Oblong, smooth-ish, fat pellet about 2” in length
- Herbivore (horse and deer) with lots of grass and rough texture. 1 horse plop… medium size and round. Several deer droppings… which are small and round.
- Omnivore (bear, fox, coyote) Bear … a pile of scat with lots of sunflower seeds and some berries seeds this time of year. Fox… small, smoother texture long and curled into a pile. Coyote… long and narrow segments with lots of hair encased in remains!
During free choice time, children will have an opportunity to dissect with wooden picks some fully sterilized owl pellets and discover skulls and skeletal remains within. This process also may sound unappealing to adults, but a young child’s curiosity often pulls him or her forward to discovery and further knowledge.
There is nothing like the real thing to open a child’s mind! I am not sure what kind of conversation this activity will generate at your dinner table tonight, but I bet it will be interesting!
Nannie Brown