Mystery skull investigation in Kindergarten

Kindergarten has been on an adventure of natural discovery over the past several months. During the winter, we discovered some partial remains (mostly skull) of a dead animal in the woods at Fresh Pond. Teachers agreed this was an incredible find, and offered children an opportunity to take a closer look. Not everyone approached that first day, but the excitement of the discovery, and the conversation that blossomed in the days following meant that everyone’s curiosity was piqued. Soon everyone was intrigued and wanted to know: “What is it?”  Teachers were asked: “Can you google it?” Instead, we called it “the mystery skull” and it has taken us on a journey of learning full of curiosity, joy, and so much excitement!

When a teacher propped the jaws open with a stick, kindergarteners were able to get a great view of the teeth. Children were particularly fascinated by the pointy canines in the front, and noticed that many of them had something in common with this animal - missing teeth!

After some time making observations and sharing our wonderings, the investigation began in earnest!  With its nature based program, Kindergarten spends time at Fresh Pond twice a week, and we have seen many animals this year: from ‘bigger than us’ deer all the way down to tiny pill bugs. We made a list of possible ‘suspects’ - all of the animals we had seen/heard at Fresh Pond, including animals we didn’t see/hear but found evidence of in the form of scat and/or tracks. We were surprised by how many creatures were on our list! Can you make a guess?

Over several weeks, we continued to examine the skull in the woods, and explored the area nearby in the search for additional clues that might help us narrow down what this animal was.

Children did some research in our Nature Nook.

We learned that the canines meant that this animal was either a carnivore or an omnivore.

   

We found fur attached to the remains and close by.

Now we knew the animal was not only an omnivore or carnivore, but also a mammal!  This information helped us cross off a lot of the animals on our list.

In March, we were lucky to have an animal skeleton collector at our school come visit - Sabrina!  

When Sabrina came to visit, we were able to examine other animal bones up close.

Our skull definitely doesn’t belong to a buffalo!

Eventually, children decided it had to be one of two possible suspects:

We spent some time learning about these animals: their habitats, diets, and particularly their teeth. We examined pictures of the skulls of squirrels and raccoons and compared them to our photos. Children also compared our fur samples to photographs of squirrels and raccoons.

In April, children got to examine an actual raccoon skull (purchased by teachers) and were able to compare it to our skull and make detailed observations and drawings in their Nature Notebooks.

“A lot of the things look the same, the back of the head, the top of the head.”

“It has the same canines and eye holes.”

Eventually, word was getting around school that the kindergarteners were doing some serious investigating!  Some 8th graders came to visit our Nature Nook, did their own observations and, when the Kindergarten Post Office was open, sent us a letter sharing their hypothesis: a raccoon!

Then, on Monday, May 6, the award winning author, educator and veterinarian Sara Levine visited the kindergarten to learn about our mystery skull and share her expertise of animals. Kindergartners were excited and proud to share our investigation with Sara, and fascinated by the bone specimens she brought to show us.

    

A giraffe vertebra is bigger than a kindergartener’s head!

Sara Levine was impressed by the level of engagement she saw in our young students and was able to tell us “with 70% certainty” that our mystery skull was, as we suspected by now, a raccoon.  

This has been such an incredible project, that all started because we get to spend time in the woods at Fresh Pond, even on cold February mornings. Because Fayerweather is a place that values curiosity, as well as learning that is collaborative, child-led, and joyful, it was possible for this project to unfold in a deep and meaningful way. Teachers can’t tell the future, but we have a feeling that the mystery skull will stay with this group of children for many years to come. We will certainly never forget it!