Survival Secrets of Turkey Vultures
Guides by Deb – Keeping your books in the hearts of young readers and in the hands of those who care for them.
The guide linked below was created by Debbie Gonzales, MFA. Deb is a career educator, curriculum consultant, former school administrator and adjunct professor, and once served as a SCBWI RA for the Austin Chapter. She's the author of six “transitional” readers for a New Zealand publisher and the forthcoming non-fiction picture book Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019). Deb earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Are you interested in discussing a reader’s guide project? If so, click here. Deb’s eager to hear from you!
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Author: Debra Toor
ISBN: 978-1616335717
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
Synopsis: This peer-reviewed narrative is crammed with scientific facts based on the extensive field research of leading American and Canadian raptor biologists. Click Amazon's Debra Toor Author Page below to discover Accredited Contributors' research and professional profiles.
Watch the BOOK TRAILER (on Debra Toor's Author Page) for a sneak peak: What makes vultures unique? What two weird defense tricks do turkey vultures use to freak out their predators? A turkey vulture's hiss sounds like ... an industrial vacuum.
Explore these and other adaptations as you join mother vulture on a hunt to feed her chicks. The turkey vulture lacks swift aerial moves, talons that stab, jaws that crush. It can't even defend itself against attackers, kill its prey, or hunt without thermals. Yet there are many things this vulture can do.
Storytelling techniques are combined with scientific facts and captivating photographs. Backmatter includes fun activities to reinforce scientific concepts. Bonus Value: A free Teacher's Guide (Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards aligned) is also available on the author's website.
Why should kids learn about vultures? As future decision makers, kids need to learn about vultures and their vital ecosystem services. The recent Asian vulture crisis (which saw 3 species of Gyps vultures collapse by nearly 96% over a 10 year period during the late 1990s) has provided scientific evidence that vultures provide the essential ecosystem services of purifying ecosystems and preventing the spread of diseases. (Statistic source from the 2015 Scientific Study: Another Continental Vulture Crisis: Africa's Vultures Collapsing toward Extinction. Conservation Letters.)
