Why can’t turkeys fly?: An Interview with the Physics Teacher

Post date: Nov 13, 2017 12:36:23 AM

By: Abbie Schmidt, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Posted November 12th, 2017

I met with SHS’ Physics teacher, Mr. Schneider, to learn about the physics behind why most birds can fly but turkeys can’t. Simply put: “turkeys are too fat to fly.” In order to fly, a bird needs to push down their wings with enough force so that the upwards acceleration is greater than the downward force of gravity. For a turkey to fly for an extended amount of time, they would either need much bigger wings or much lighter bodies.

In addition to teaching Physics, Mr. Schneider is the advisor of Anime Club, directs the spring play, coaches the forensics “drama” category, is an advisor of Science Olympiad, and teaches Honors Geometry.