The Vavenby Primary students have been studying owls. The children were able to tell me all that they had learned about these birds.
Teacher Mrs. K. Clark got an owl kit from the Henry Grube Center in Kamloops. Clark was pleasantly surprised because the kit contained four owl pellets – enough for the students to work on in pairs. This meant that she did not have to get any from the Wildlife Center and sign waivers. Besides the pellets the kit included all necessary tools needed for taking the pellets apart and charts showing the bones of the various prey of an owl.
On Thursday, Nov. 14, the students took the pellets – which are the size of golf balls – apart and extracted the bones. On the following Thursday the children matched their bones to those on the chart. Then they glued the skull and leg bones on to a piece of paper to begin to form the shape of their owl’s last meal.
A few of the students found this step difficult but they had the help of Clark and teacher assistant Mrs. Pigeon. This project will be completed on another day.
Charlotte likes to eat insects
The children have a very strange class pet. When Clark was reading the story Charlotte’s Web to them in September one of the students – Braydon Busse – caught a spider and everyone wanted to keep it.
Of course it has been named Charlotte. Charlotte is kept in an aquarium and the children have added leaves and rocks to make it a home. Flies are caught to feed her. The children have watched Charlotte eat these flies by sucking the blood out of them.
The spider has made an egg sack on the side of the aquarium and laid between 200 – 2,000 eggs in it. Charlotte stood on her sack until Nov. 18 and then started to move around. The eggs are beginning to hatch. Clark feels that keeping the spider is a great learning experience for the class.
Rink nearly ready
Due to these very cold temperatures three residents have been up at Vavenby's skating rink at night and flooding it. The rink is not yet ready to be skated on. It needs to be built up more.
The roof that covers the gate area and the bench of the rink has been completed.
Bridge work continues
Work on the Vavenby Bridge has started again. Closure remains from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. and at this time stretches from Thursday, Nov. 21 – Friday, Nov. 29.
Anyone with any concerns are asked to contact the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure at 250-828-4002.