Wingspan: The Classroom Adaptation

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Overview: Wingspan is a competitive engine-building board game created by designer Elizabeth Hargrave and Stonemaeier Games. You play as a bird enthusiast (Researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors) seeking to attract the best birds to your network of resources. The game can be played solo or with up to five people. Wingspan contains a great deal of information about ornithology, teaching players about different species of birds, their natural habitat, their wingspan, their diets, and reproductive habits, all of which are scientifically accurate.

An engine-building board game is a game where players acquire and use resources to build an “engine” that will generate more resources or points over time.

Objective: 

You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats (actions). These habitats focus on several key aspects of growth:

  • Gain food tokens via custom dice in a birdfeeder dice tower
  • Lay eggs using egg miniatures in a variety of colors
  • Draw from hundreds of unique bird cards and play them

The winner is the player with the most points after 4 rounds.

Classroom Adaptation: 

Even though the developers list this game as a 40-70-minute game, it tends to take quite a bit longer with new players. Additionally, students could play the game focusing entirely on game mechanics and not gain insight into the environmental lessons that could be gathered by reflecting on the game. So, we made a variation of this game using the game with modified rules and some added environmental cards. 

Check out our Wingspan: The Classroom Adaptation to print off your event cards and get our rule variant and new game mechanics. 

 

Learning Goals: 

Ecological Knowledge

  • Bird Identification: Students will learn to recognize and identify various bird species, along with key facts about their habitat, diet, and nesting behaviors.
  • Ecosystem Dynamics: Students will explore how birds fit into larger ecosystems and how their interactions with food sources (insects, seeds, etc.) and habitats influence biodiversity.
  • Conservation Awareness: Students will understand the importance of biodiversity, as well as conservation efforts needed to protect species and their habitats.

Resource Management & Strategic Thinking

  • Resource Allocation: Students will learn to manage food, eggs, and actions efficiently to optimize their gameplay, helping them understand the value of resources in ecological systems.
  • Long-term Planning: The game encourages players to think ahead and balance short-term and long-term goals, which translates to strategic thinking and planning skills.
  • Risk vs. Reward: Students will learn decision-making skills by evaluating the risks and benefits of different actions in the game, a concept also relevant in real-world problem-solving.

Interdisciplinary Thinking

  • Connecting Science to Gameplay: Students will make connections between real-world biological principles (such as adaptation, species interactions, and energy flow) and their gameplay.
  • Environmental Ethics: By caring for and strategizing around different bird species, students can develop an ethical perspective on the importance of species preservation and environmental stewardship.

Collaboration & Communication

  • Group Problem Solving: If played in teams or discussed afterward, the game can promote teamwork, where students collaborate to optimize their strategies.

Discussion of Strategies & Choices: Students can improve their communication skills by articulating their reasoning behind gameplay decisions, fostering peer learning.

NGSS Standards Related to Habitats and Birds:

Middle School (Grades 6–8)

  • MS-LS2-1: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations.
  • MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
  • MS-LS2-5: Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

HS-LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

  • HS-LS2-1: Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.
    • Can involve studying how bird populations are affected by the carrying capacity of their habitats (food, nesting sites, etc.).
  • HS-LS2-2: Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
    • This can apply to bird diversity in different ecosystems (e.g., forest, grassland, wetland) and how human impact or natural events affect those populations.
  • HS-LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
    • Can involve exploring how changes in bird habitats (e.g., deforestation, urbanization, climate change) lead to shifts in species and ecosystem dynamics.
  • HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
    • This standard fits well with conservation efforts related to birds and their habitats, such as creating protected areas, restoring ecosystems, or reducing pollution.

HS-LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

  • HS-LS4-5: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
    • Students can explore how changes in bird habitats (due to climate change, habitat loss, etc.) lead to population shifts, adaptation, or even extinction.
  • HS-LS4-6: Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
    • This could include simulations of how habitat restoration or conservation efforts impact bird populations and biodiversity.

HS-ESS3: Earth and Human Activity

  • HS-ESS3-3: Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how these relationships are being modified due to human activity.
    • Students can model how human activities, such as deforestation or pollution, impact bird habitats and populations, illustrating broader ecosystem changes.
  • HS-ESS3-4: Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
    • This could be connected to real-world solutions like bird-friendly building designs, protected habitats, or reforestation efforts to mitigate human impacts on bird species.
  • HS-ESS3-6: Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how these relationships are being modified due to human activity.
    • This standard can involve exploring the impact of climate change on bird migration patterns, habitats, and ecosystems.