With the intensity and focus of scientists, fourth-graders Maddy Dixon and Pilar Tosio delicately dissected an owl pellet at Amity Creek Magnet School on Tuesday.

But their focus was shattered and replaced with enthusiasm as soon as they made a discovery.

“We found a tooth!” the pair called out loudly, giggling and holding it up for each other to examine.

Bettina Haugen’s third- and fourth-grade class spent Tuesday afternoon getting up close and personal with owl pellets, which are small masses of bones, teeth, fur and other pieces of undigested prey the owl has eaten, then regurgitated.

And they couldn’t have been happier about it.

“Imagine the journey this has made,” Haugen said, holding up a wrapped owl pellet. “The owl swoops down, picks up a field mouse and eats it head first, and then the stomach goes to work.”

Sitting in pairs around the classroom, the students pulled out science notebooks and prepared to take notes on what they found in the pellets, which were purchased from a company that heated them in an oven to sanitize them.

Haugen asked the students to treat the pellets with the respect of a scientist. They were to draw what the pellets looked like when removed from the foil, then draw the bones that they pulled from the mass.

For Maya Hopwood and Jenny Picarazzi, both 8, the most challenging part seemed to be removing the foil.

“Whoa,” Jenny said, thrusting the pellet into Maya’s hands. “You unwrap it.”

The pair expected to find a few bones in the mass of fur.

“If we find a skull we’ll be really happy,” Jenny said.

Across the room, Solomon Haskell and Jamey Luckett, both 8, split up the duties.

Holding their utensils, the pair exclaimed at each new bone they uncovered.

“We got a claw!” Solomon shouted. “We’re taking turns getting the bones.”

Jamey said the class is learning about bones, and this is the culmination of what they’ve learned.

“We’ve got to dissect all the fur out,” he said.

Joice Cruzen, 9, and Jazi Navish, 8, had a lot of fur removal to get through.

“There’s a lot of fur,” Joice said, giggling. “It’s gross.”

While some students found the dissection slightly repellent, others were already scheming on how to keep bits of the pellets for their own.

“Maybe we can keep some of the fur,” Pilar, 10, said.

“I love owls,” Maddy, 9, said to Pilar as she continued to dig through the pellet.

As they pulled each bone out, the pair speculated what part of the body it might have come from.

“Something in the hip maybe?” Pilar asked Maddy.

As they considered the small bone, Haugen handed out a sheet with the diagram of a rodent skeleton so they could try to verify their guesses.

Today, Haugen and the class will spend time examining the bones and learning more about the skeleton.

But on Tuesday, the students were pretty sure it was all for fun.

“We didn’t think we’d find this much in here,” Maddy said. “We’ve got skull pieces and teeth and stuff.”