Activity 1 – Investigating Bat Adaptations
Students investigate adaptations that increase a bat’s chance of finding food and surviving in a particular habitat.
Students will be able to:
• List several different foods that bats eat.
• Describe anatomical features that lend themselves to particular bat diets.
• Analyze bat features to accurately predict their diets.
Grade Level: 3-6
Time: two activity periods
Subject: science
Skills: observation, comparison, hypothesizing
Activity 2 – Bats: Maligned or Malicious?
Students explore their views of a threatened bat and present their findings.
Students will be able to:
• Describe several views people hold about bats.
• Identify misconceptions about a threatened species.
• Reflect on changes in their attitudes about wildlife.
• Share natural history and conservation knowledge about bats.
Grade Levels: 3-8; K-2
Time: Two or more class periods, depending on the presentations.
Subjects: science, reading, presentation, social studies
Skills: analysis, application, classification, comparison, description, evaluation, research, synthesis
Activity 3 & 4 – Indiana Bat (Reading Activity)
Activity 5 – Build a Bat House
Students build a bat house for their Backyard Wildlife HabitatTM or Schoolyard Habitats® Site.
Students will be able to:
• Identify reasons for building a bat house.
• Demonstrate a method for building a bat house.
• Identify key criteria for successful bat houses.
Grade Level: 2-8
Time: 2 hours (plus painting and installation time)
Subject:science, art, math
Skills: construction, description, analysis