Thanksgiving Science BUNDLE Middle School - Turkey Food Web Adaptations Stations

3 Thanksgiving Science Activities! Research the turkey's food web and energy pyramid, video notes on turkey adaptations, and stations about Thanksgiving Environmental Impact. Great for November!

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Students research the ecosystem of wild turkeys and build their food web and energy pyramid based on the organisms chosen. No-prep, google doc editable activity for Thanksgiving, Autumn / Fall season or for any unit including energy cycles, food cycles and webs, and ecosystems.

Your students will record the turkey's scientific name, prey, predators, habitat (climate, region), and classify the plants/animals by producers, primary consumers (herbivores), secondary consumers (omnivores and carnivores), tertiary consumers (carnivores).

Intended to be open-ended research, but students can start off with the turkey's wikipedia page, the Audubon site, and National Geographic.

Answer key included, BUT this assignment will look different for every student depending on the organisms that they choose.

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What is the Environmental Impact of Thanksgiving Dinner? Students rotate through 6 stations to explore Human Impacts on the Environment from the Thanksgiving holiday. They read the short station text and answer questions on their sheet. Great chunked literacy activity to get students thinking about the affects that turkeys, traveling, food waste, etc have on the planet. Excellent resource for an Environmental Science unit in November!

"Many people who celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday gather with family, prepare a big meal, and express gratitude. How sustainable is this holiday? Use the stations (based on this article by HuffPost and this article by UC Santa Barbara) to collect evidence and consider the environmental impact of Thanksgiving Dinner."

Includes:

• 6 stations
• 12 station questions (evidence and impacts)
• 3 additional questions for after the stations

Based on the Articles:

The Environmental Impact Of Your Thanksgiving Dinner

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thanksgiving-dinner-ecological-impact_l_5db07ef7e4b0d5b78944bc6e

Nine Tips to Reduce your Environmental Impact this Thanksgiving Holiday

https://sustainability.ucsb.edu/nine-tips-to-reduce-your-environmental-impact-this-thanksgiving-holiday

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Students observe real scientists who study turkeys and analyze their experimental design and results. They play the role of scientists and brainstorm potential follow-up studies. Great way to practice scientific thinking skills this Thanksgiving / Fall / Autumn!

Includes:

• 2 pg Video notes sheet with answer keys
• 1/2 pg Notice and Wonder Warm-Up

Agricultural scientists from University of California, Irvine wanted to study the differences between wild and domestic turkeys. 

Watch the video from Inside Science and complete the questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQvuy_mZfLg&t=6s&ab_channel=InsideScience

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