I was inspired by Creative Tots bat art project. We did this nocturnal bat project and integrated language arts by having students form sentences.
Go to Kidzone to download this FREE Itsy Bitsy Bat Fact Mini Booklet.
FUN GAMES
"Echo-Location"
Found this super fun game on Lewis learning library blog. It was a spin-off on Marco polo.
They loved playing Echo-Location
Students were either bats or bugs. The "bats" had to find food/bugs with their eyes close. The "bats" would say "ECHO" and the bugs would respond by saying "LOCATION". I had my bugs not move around the playground. The object of the game was for the bats to catch all the bugs without sight. This game also helped some of the students to better understand the meaning of echolocation.
Here is a fun song I played to teach my visual and auditory learners.
There are some animals that can’t see with their eyes very well, but they can still move safely and find food. Bats are one of these wonderful and unique animals.
Most bats send out sounds that bounce off objects and return to the bat’s ears as echoes. A bat can decide where objects are, how big objects are, even the shape of objects so they know what is food and what they might run into.
Sound travels through air, through water, and through solids. When you speak, sound vibrations travel from your mouth through the air. Here’s an activity to “see” like a bat.
“See” like a bat
Where's that sound?
What you need for this activity:
a helper
some kind of blindfold
Directions:
1. Place the blind fold over your eyes.
2. Ask your helper to click his/her fingers or slap his/her hands above you, behind you, to your right, to your left, below you, and directly in front of you.
3. Guess where the sound is coming from each time.
Critical thinking/Discussion question:
Which was the direction that was hardest to figure out? Why do you think so?
Bats can tell what their prey is like by listening for changes in vibrations. Sound vibrations traveled through the air when your helper clicked fingers or clapped hands. But sound vibrations travel through liquids and solids too.