Skull Biology- A college lab

After a month break, we ventured back to our wonderful science class at Crystal Springs Preserve.  So far, these classes have been so good, and today was no exception.  Our topic was skull biology.  Mrs. Sonya first explained to us the reason for a skull and pointed out some key areas to help us as we work to determine what type of animal we are looking at.

First we would look at the location of the eyes on the skull.  If the eyes face forward, it is most likely a predator.  They are always looking ahead, searching for their next prey.  If the eyes face out to the side, the animal is probably a prey.  It has to be aware of it's surroundings and look out for predators that are on the prowl.  I never considered the position of the eyes when looking at an animal.  Of course there are exceptions, and some animals are both predators and prey...but it's a general rule of thumb.

Next, we looked at the nasal passage of the skull.  If there are lots of bones, the animals has a great sense of smell.  If there are only a few bones, the animal has just a good sense of smell.  (this only applies to mammals by the way).

Finally, we examined the Auditory Bulla (pronounced "bully").  If the auditory bulla is large, the animals has a great sense of hearing.  If it is small, then the animal only has a good sense of hearing.

I realize I spelled that wrong.  The kids were distracting me...now I can't find the original file to correct.

After teaching the children these basic steps in examining a skull, Mrs. Sonya passed out a lab sheet for the children to go around an inspect 21 skulls (most of them were real, including a Bengal Tiger).  I helped Nicole with the first one, then she was off on her own.

She truly enjoyed checking out all these skulls and tried to determine what animal it was.

She also brought in her own piece of deer jawbone that Gramps brought her last time he came down.

Mrs. Sonya kept telling us that this is a lab she did in college.  Nicole (and Hannah and Nate to some extent) were doing comparative animal physiology and completing a lab making deductions based on observation.  Woohoo for big fat words to describe this lab ;)  Thankful for another day of homeschooling (now off to work on that ever pesky life skill....cleaning your room)