Spooky Bats
By: William Bommarito, Sam Eahrow, Cynthia Naber, Natasha Sokolow
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Our Goal
To educate students about the importance of bats in our ecosystem! They are underappreciated and often misunderstood pollinators.
Who We Are
Who We Are
William Bommarito
Will is an Environmental and Sustainability studies major pursuing a certificate in sustainable food systems. He is passionate about food sovereignty as well as humans' relationship to the land around them.
Sam Eahrow
Sam is an Environmental and Sustainability Studies major and Earth science minor. She is a senior at GV and plans to work with an environmental nonprofit organization.
Cynthia Naber
Cynthia is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Studies with a focus on society and Environmental Justice. She is in her final year at GVSU and hopes to do regenerative work directly with nature after graduation.
Natasha Sokolow
Natasha is a senior studying Natural Resource Management and minoring in Environmental Studies. She is passionate about sustainable agriculture practices and humans' relationship to the natural world.
Why Bats?
Introduction
Introduction
Our project is about creating a lesson plan about bats for younger school children. We chose this topic because bats are underappreciated. There tends to be a lot of stigma and misconceptions surrounding bats. Many children may have heard this information from their parents or media (such as movies). In order to correct these ideas, we created a lesson for elementary school students.
Background Information
Background Information
There are many reasons why bats are important to our ecosystem.
They eat pesky bugs and disperse seeds.
There are over 1,400 species of bats found around the world, meaning they are an incredibly diverse group!
They also pollinate numerous types of flowers that produce crops that we enjoy and rely on! Bats pollinate or disperse fruits like mangoes, agave, and wild bananas (Kasso & Balakrishnan, 2013).
Fact: Bats are the only pollinators of agave, which creates tequila!
However, some people are afraid of bats!
Some fear that bats will drink their blood or attack them unprovoked.
Fact: There are only three types of bats that drink blood. The rest eat bugs or fruit!
Fact: Bats will only attack if they are provoked, feel threatened, or have rabies.
Bats populations are suffering due to a disease known as White-nose Syndrome.
White-nose Syndrome is caused by a fungus that thrives in caves.
This disease has wiped out millions of bats.
It is expected to cause extinctions in the near future.
Misconceptions and lack of awareness have led people to underappreciate and even hate bats!
Who is Our Audience?
Who is Our Audience?
Our intended audience is elementary-age students. Children at this age are open to new ideas. Our lesson is meant to be engaging and educational!
We decided to direct our project towards elementary students because they are more likely to be open to an unusual or "scary" topic like bats, especially around Halloween! At this age, a lot of their fears come from their parents.
Our Creative Process
Our Creative Process
We chose this topic based on our collective interests and experiences!
We are interested in different types of pollinators.
We brainstormed many ideas, including bat houses at the Sustainable Agriculture Project or Solar Garden, bat house building events, and more! We ended up choosing a lesson plan for students because elementary school is a crucial time for education.
Our Stakeholders
Our Stakeholders
Michael Hinkle
Michael Hinkle
Michael is the Farm Manager at GVSU's Sustainable Agriculture Project.
Michael suggested that we connect with different external sources, including the John Ball Zoo and the Blandford Nature Center. He was particularly interested in our topic as a great way to teach students more about bats.
Amy Russell
Amy Russell
Amy is a Professor of Biology here at GVSU. She has conducted research about many mammals, including bats.
Amy suggested that we include information about the diversity of bat species, white nose syndrome, rabies, and bat houses. She expressed great interest in our project as a way to spread awareness about the importance of bats in our ecosystem.
Anna White
Anna White
Anna is a Library Liaison for numerous majors including ENS.
Anna suggested that we visit Bat Conservation International's and the USDA's resources. Both have conducted research surrounding bats.
How We'll Do It
Our Lesson
Our Lesson
This lesson plan could be utilized over multiple days:
Day 1: Engage, Explore, & Bat Toilet Paper Craft
Day 2: Building Bat Houses
Day 3: Painting Bat Houses
Caution!
Caution!
While teaching students about the importance of bats, we will ensure that they understand that bats should not be touched. Handling bats puts one at risk of rabies, a lethal disease if left untreated. We will teach students to never touch bats and to get an adult if they see a bat on the ground.
Healthy bats will not come near humans. They will roost in high places such as caves or bridges.
Unhealthy bats (those with rabies) may be found on the ground or near people.
Engage
Engage
Engaging is how we capture our students' attention.
To engage with our students, we will ask them what they know about bats. Some responses may include:
Bats can fly
Bats come out at night
Bats eat bugs
Explore
Explore
Exploring is how we offer experiences for students to base their knowledge upon.
To help our students explore, we will show the video above and the photos below.
To gage their understanding, we will ask questions about bats, such as:
What type of animal are bats?
What do bats eat?
How do bats help us and our ecosystem?
Extend
Extend
Extending is how we broaden our students' understanding.
To extend the information, we will build* and paint bat houses!
While we do this, we can talk about why bats prefer bat houses and their life cycles.
*For younger students, just painting premade boxes may be easier.
Bats of All Sizes
Bats of All Sizes
This video provides a fun but thorough summary of bats. It includes a diverse mixture of species with close-up photos to see their wide variety. This video concludes by addressing some of the stigma and misinformation around bats.
Exploring the Dark
Exploring the Dark
The video above begins by showing a bat colony through a night-vision lens before illustrating a slowed version of echolocation.
Echolocation is used by many bats to find their way in the dark. They send out noise through their nose or mouth, how long it takes to echo back depends on the distance from an object. This frequency goes unheard by humans, as it's higher than the typical hearing range.
Creating Housing
Creating Housing
It's true, many bats do spend winter months in caves. However, during warm weather bats prefer tighter spaces to create a safe family home.
Photo above is linked with instructions, needed supplies, and location requirements. *Note this will require adult supervision & assistance.
Additional tips can be found at: https://www.batcon.org/article/bat-houses-the-secrets-of-success/
Photos above are both of Lesser Long-Nosed Bats.
Handout to the right is a great resource for students to refer back on.
Michigan Bats
Michigan Bats
Did you know... there are 9 types of bats in Michigan!
Additional Bat Activity
Additional Bat Activity
Many people recall doing craft activities that have stuck with them as they've grown up. In order to give our lesson a lasting impression, teachers can choose to implement a bat craft project. This activity can be adjusted based on age or ability levels.
Required materials include:
Toilet paper rolls
Black paint
Paintbrushes
Googly eyes
Black construction paper
Glue or tape
Conclusion
Conclusion
We hope that our lesson will help students to learn about bats and appreciate them.
Our Learning Objectives: Students will...
Understand how bats pollinate plants.
Have basic knowledge of bats (their life cycles, what type of animal they are, etc.).
Understand where they live.
Understand why bats are important to our ecosystem.
Sources
Sources
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