MES fourth graders as smart as owls
Sports reporter
How do you get 20 fourth-graders to sit perfectly still, totally quiet, in the dark for 30 minutes?
Tell them if they do, they might see owls.
It worked for Marion Elementary School fourth grade teachers Laura Baldwin and Kim Harden, who took approximately 20 of their students Thursday on an "owl prowl" at Marion Reservoir.
"It's such a neat way to bring what we are reading and studying to real life," said Baldwin.
Parents and siblings joined the students at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's office to hear Neal Whitaker, park ranger, and Marvin Peterson, area natural resource officer with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, give a brief presentation about Kansas owls.
When Whitaker asked the students what they had already learned about owls, they were ready with answers.
"Owls can turn their heads a full 270 degrees," one child called out.
"Owls have 10 times greater eyesight than people," another piped up.
"If our eyes were as big as an owl's, they would be the size of tennis balls," a third exclaimed.
Peterson made certain the children understood that owls enjoy special legal protections.
"You can't have or possess any talons, any feathers, or anything like that," he cautioned.
Peterson demonstrated some owl calls, and Whitaker gave children more taped samples.
The group of nearly 50 students, parents, and siblings then climbed into cars, and followed Whitaker out into the night, searching for screech owls.
A stop at Marion Cove was fruitless, but the group had success at Cottonwood Point where two screech owls, attracted by Whitaker's taped calls, landed in nearby trees.
The owls, mesmerized by multiple flashlights trained on them, perched placidly for nearly 20 minutes as children quietly crowded to within 10 feet for a closer look at what, until that moment, they had only known through pictures and words.
"The children are always surprised at how small they are," Baldwin remarked.
The "owl prowl" is part of a more comprehensive educational experience in which students learn by applying themselves to numerous "hands-on" activities.
"We integrate reading, writing, grammar, science, social studies, math, art, research, and computer skills into our study of owls," said Baldwin.
"This isn't just about owls — there's so much that goes into it that pulls from every subject area," Harden added.
This is the fifth year Baldwin has done the owl unit, started by former MES teacher Linda Allison, and Harden's second.
"Owls in the Family," a children's book by Farley Mowat, describes how a town is turned upside-down by two pet owls. The book was used to spark children's interest in owls, and provided a framework upon which many of the subsequent activities were built.
One such activity helped children discover different kinds of beaks and how they are used. After viewing pictures of various beaks children conducted their own beak experiment.
"They used different objects — spoons, toothpicks, clothes pins, and tweezers — as 'beaks'," Baldwin said.
The children used the makeshift beaks to try to pick up and move objects such as raisins, Cheerios, and marbles.
Baldwin explained the activity helps children understand how bird beaks are specialized adaptations suited for their specific needs and living environments.
One science activity had children dissecting owl pellets, large balls of leftover hair and bones coughed up as a byproduct of the digestive process.
Facial expressions ranged the gamut from disgust to astonishment, as children pulled apart the pellets with toothpicks.
"I found a skull!"
"That's a backbone!"
"I think this is part of a hip!"
The children then compared their finds with a chart depicting the various bones of prey typical of an owl's diet.
An activity in which children brought part of the book to life was a pet parade. Students came to school with decorated stuffed animals, similar to the ones found in the book, and paraded the critters through the lunchroom for others to see.
Students were matched into pairs for their studies, with each duo focusing on a particular Kansas owl.
When they have gathered information about the owl's physical description, nesting, babies, and habitat, the students will use computers to create Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to share their findings.
"We could just hand out a worksheet," Baldwin said, "but engaging students like this makes them use higher-level thinking skills, evaluation, analysis, and synthesis."
While this type of project deviates from more traditional classroom practices, the impact it has on students is long-lasting.
"If you ask sixth graders what they remember about the fourth grade, most of them will tell you the owl project," Baldwin said.
Baldwin and Harden also keep attentive eyes focused on meeting the demands of more rigorous state academic standards.
"As the state has made us more accountable for kids' learning, it doesn't mean we have to take out the things they enjoy," Baldwin stressed. "We just have to be sure they are aligned with state objectives."
