Class Response-Owl Pellets

On Monday, November 9, we started dissecting owl pellets. We did this to find out what owl's ate and how it is connected to a food web. One thing we learned is an owls diet. Owls mostly eat shrews, mice, moles, and most rats. I got this information from the papers we got giving us basic information about owls. Most animals have something that owls don't, a crop, which allows animals to store food for later consumption. Since owls don't have this, their food goes directly to their digestive system. I also learned that when owls swallow their pray whole, the bones and fur get stuck in their gizzard for 10-20 hours. After that, they are regurgitated into pellets. Owl pellets are masses of bone, teeth, hair, feathers, and exoskeletons from the prey the owl ate.
I think that this activity was fun and helped us learn about owls. We learned many facts about them. Also, this activity is related to food webs, habitat's, and parasitism. All in all, doing this lab was productive and a fun way to learn about owls.

The Truth About 2012 Doomsday Hype

             December 21, 2012. On this day, scientists predict that the world will end or at least cause some type of destruction. There might be cataclysmic volcanism or a great flood. One reason that they think this will happen is because of the Mayans. Apparently, their calender ends exactly on the 21st of December 2012. The Mayans never said that the world will end, but that is what people infer. They don't know what other meaning it could have. Another reason is that a non-existent planet supposedly discovered by the ancient Sumerians, called Nibiru will encounter the Earth and wreak havoc. So, will doomsday really happen or is it just another failed prediction?

             I think that all of this is untrue and nothing will happen in 2012. I say this because I have learned that before there have been many doomsday predictions, 10 to be exact, and they all have failed. Also, in the article, it states that the Mayan calendar ends like our calendar and probably just starts all over again. All in all, I think that nothing will happen.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/091105-2021-doomsday.html