Talking Turkey: Teaching about North America's Greatest Conservation Story with Children with Visual Impairments

"Gobble Gobble!" was heard in the hallways of a middle school in the southeastern United States, and the sound was made by a group of students who all had visual impairments. The students were learning about the comeback of the wild turkey in North America, one of the most successful conservation stories in this country. Using a curriculum provided by the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), the students were writing, acting, cooking, conducting interviews, and using tactile exploration in an effort to learn about the physical features and habitat of wild turkeys, along with research conducted on these animals. The lessons in the curriculum are aligned with the standards of the National Science Education. These standards include Scientific Inquiry Content Standard A, Life Science Content Standard C, Science and Technology Science Content Standard E, Science in Personal and Social Perspectives Content Standard F, and History and Nature of Science Content Standard G (National Research Council, 1996). Students who are visually impaired are often taught science concepts with curricula that depend on visual observations, which may present barriers to the students' participation in lessons. Many manuals explain how to teach students with visual impairments in the area of science (Dion, Hoffman & Matter, 2000; Hadary & Cohen, 1978; Koenig & Holbrook, 2000; Kumar, Ramassamy, & Stefanich, 2001; Willoughy & Duffy, 1989). However, little research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of these curricular materials. CURRICULUM As described earlier, the curriculum of NWTF was used for this study. The curriculum was developed by practitioners and experts to help students gain an appreciation of the resurgence of the wild turkey in North America and the impact the conservation efforts of NWTF have had on the environment. It had never been used with students who are visually impaired, however, and thus the curriculum had to be modified to be accessible for these students. Instead of viewing pictures of turkeys and other animals in the turkey's habitat, for example, the students were able to explore taxidermy models of a wild turkey and the skulls, pelts, and feathers of other animals. Instead of pictures of turkey calls, the students were given the opportunity to meet with a champion turkey caller and explore his equipment. All written materials were reproduced in the students' preferred media. In addition, attention to the expanded core curriculum was given. The students made cookies in the shape of turkeys, wrote thank-you notes to all the speakers, practiced orientation and mobility skills on a field trip, and met with state wildlife conservationists to explore careers in conservation. METHODOLOGY Instructional intervention The teacher brought a taxidermy model of a stuffed female wild turkey into the classroom. She guided the hands of students over the various parts of the bird to help them understand the size and parts of the turkey, stopping at various spots on the bird to point out the wing feathers, tail feathers, breast feathers, and beard. So the students could understand the sounds of turkeys, the teacher played an audio recording of turkey calls. The students listened carefully to the sounds and wrote their impressions and descriptions of the calls. To reinforce their knowledge, a champion turkey caller visited with the students, and they listened to his calls and learned how to make their own calls. Other examples of lesson plans included learning about the ways turkeys are used in various cultures, writing articles about their experiences for the local newspaper, "acting" like a wild turkey, learning about conservation careers through a visit by the state turkey biologist, writing poetry about wild turkeys, exploring transportation boxes for wild turkeys, and writing "want ads" for the habitat of the turkey. At the culmination of the instruction, the students attended NWTF's annual convention. …