What Did Rockford Middle School Learn at The Raptor Center?

TRC Interpretive Naturalist Dan Hnilicka
took guesses as to how much weight the egg
could hold.

Students at Rockford Middle School Center for Environmental Studies recently visited The Raptor Center.



They took part in an experiment as part their curriculum learning about food webs, trophic levels, and bioaccumulation. 

A piece was used to help balance the weights that would
be put on the egg.

Healthy peregrine falcon eggshells can support much more than the less-than-two-pound female who sits on them.  However, if the shells are thinner, as an indirect result of chemical ingestion by the bird, the eggs cannot support the weight and are crushed. 

Chicken eggs, very similar in size to peregrine falcon eggs, were used in the demonstration.  This visit is the culmination of a year-long program where The Raptor Center staff brings live raptors into the classroom to give students up-close experiences as they learn about important scientific concepts.