During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that may also affect an individual's survival. After the simulation, shorebirds return to being students and analyze the survival rate, concluding a solid instructional activity on animal migration.

Concepts

human impact on the environment, environmental stewardship, estuaries, limiting factors, migration

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Additional Tags

migration, limiting factor, estuary, human impact on the environment, science

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Pros

• Learners analyze a graph of what occurred throughout the simulation
• Adaptable to Next Generation Science Standards 
• Thorough explanation of how to facilitate the game
• Cross-curricular suggestions provided

Cons

• None