Soundless flyers of the night, with a low, eerie call. With sharp talons and sharper beaks, who other than the owls would have such traits. But with great power, there are always setbacks.

Owls, being birds, do not have teeth. And with no teeth to chew with, owls often swallow their prey whole, which includes every fur, fang, and claw of whatever they caught.

Owls cannot digest the bones and fur of their prey, so similar to cats, they cough up what gets caught in their stomachs, which are known as owl pellets. And that’s what third grade had to dissect, and discovered the ins and outs of what an owl eats.

Some students were squeamish, and others were super excited. The classmates were divided into pairs to pick apart a pellet. The big challenge for the third graders was getting to recreate a mouse skeleton from the pellet they were given by gluing parts onto a piece of paper. And when everything had been combed over, there was the debate of who would get to take their spooky skeleton home.

Whoever was brave enough to bring their frankenstein project home had the potential to surprise the parents who picked them up at carpool, and scare siblings with rodent bones.

Even those who are not partially fond of death could still have some fun dissecting a mouthful of a surprise.