little leafers autumn teacher's...

Little Leafers Autumn Teacher's Guide

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Week Five Index

1) Index

2) Week Five Tips and Tricks

3) Week Five Lecture

4) Tray Work Activity A: Bat Anatomy Cards

5) Tray Work Activity A continued





10) Tray Work Activity B: Megabat vs Microbat Sorting Cards

11) Tray Work Activity B continued

12) Tray Work Activity C: Food Chain of the Little Brown Bat

13) Tray Work Activity C continued

14) Week Five Make and Take



Week Five Tips and Tricks

This week's Little Leafers class theme is the greatly misunderstood and often feared bat. As teacher, its

your job to help students understand the important roles bats play in our ecosystem and try to reduce some of

that fear.

It can be a fine line to walk, acknowledging fears without feeding into them. Especially if you are

personally afraid of bats. Try not to belittle the feelings of any children who express fear or concern about bats,

but at the same time don't allow them to hijack the class with negative talk. Highlight the good things that bats do

for us, how they make eat pests like mosquitoes and how their saliva is being studied for use in medications.

If you are personally afraid of bats, try to downplay this fear during class. Remember that you are the

representative of mother nature to your students, and you want them to have a positive relationship with all

things nature. Don't let your fears tarnish their learning experience.

If you aren't too squeamish, you might consider getting a taxidermy bat to have on hand during class. A

local taxidermist might have one that you can purchase, or you can buy one online. It is not necessary to have a

taxidermy bat present at the class, this is just a fun idea that helps bring the material to life.

If you do decide to incorporate a taxidermy bat into your class, be sure not to pressure your students to

handle it. Some students are more wary and take more time to warm up to such things. This is ok. Have patience.

Make materials available. I find that with time, many students come around to it when they feel more ready.

Allowing them to do it at their own pace prevents upset and helps them build a stronger relationship with nature.



Week Five Lecture

“OK everyone, close your eyes and imagine with me. Imagine that your hands are each the size of your

body. That your fingers have grown longer than your arms. And between each finger, there is a

membrane of leathery skin connecting them. Now imagine that you can jump and catch the air with

these hands, you can wave them to and fro and fly through the sky using your hands. Open your eyes.

What you just imagined is what its like to be a bat. Any thoughts?" * Pause for reactions and discussion. *

“Bats are unique in that they are the only mammal we know of that can fly. There are other animals that

can glide, but only the bat is capable of continued flight. Does anyone know of any mammals that can

glide?" * Look for answers like flying squirrels, feather-tailed possoms, colugos, and sifaka. *

“Well gliding usually means that an animal can go from one point to another point either lower or at the

same level. It is always one continuous swoop, without wing flapping. Flying on the other hand is

powered flight. Animals that can fly easily go from one level to a higher level. They flap their wings for

longer, continued flights. Now, there are over a thousand different bat species but they all fall into two

basic categories, megabats and microbats. Can anyone guess what the difference between megabats

and mircobats might be? Just take a guess." * Pause to listen to all the possible theories. *

“Megabats are usually larger than microbats but not always. Megabats have larger eyes and a longer

snout, but small ears. Microbats have small eyes and a short snout, but large ears. Can anyone guess

why that might be?" * Pause to listen to all the possible theories. *

“The senses that they need and use the most will be more exaggerated. Megabats have larger eyes and

a longer snout because they have and rely on their excellent eye sight and sense of smell. Microbats

can't see nor smell as well, they have large ears because they rely on their sense of hearing. Microbats

use echolocation to find food. Can anyone tell me some other animals that use echolocation?" * Look for answers like toothed whales, dolphins, shrews, and some cave dwelling birds. *

“Echolocation is when an animal calls out to the environment and then they listen for the echos of their

call, they listen for the sound of their own voice to reflect off the objects around them and come back to

them. They can tell just by hearing where there is food. Now, what do bats eat?" * Look for answers like insects, blood, fruit, nectar, small animals, and fish. *

"Because there are over a thousand types of bats, it is understandable that there are many different

types of foods that bats eat. It all depends on the species of bat. Most megabats eat fruit, some drink

nectar. Megabats help spread fruit seeds and pollinate flowers. Most microbats eat insects. They help

keep our mosquito and moth populations in check. There are some bats that eat small animals like fish,

frogs, and birds. And there are three species of vampire bats, which drink blood. Don't worry though

because they like cow blood, and they drink so little that its basically harmless to the cows. In fact,

vampire bats have a special blood clotting agent in their saliva that is being studied for possible use in

human medicine. They could help us save lives."



Bat Anatomy Cards: print on cardstock, cut along black lines, laminate if desired



Megabat vs Microbat Sorting Cards: print on cardstock, cut along black lines, label the backs of cards with the answers if desired, laminate if

desired



Food Chain of Little Brown Bat: print on cardstock, cut along black lines, laminate if desired



Week Five Make and Take

Bat Pencil Topper Craft

Supplies:

o bat cookie cutter or other bat shaped template

o black construction paper

o pencils

o scissors

o small red sequins or large red glitter

o glue stick

Directions

1) Use the bat cookie cutter to trace a bat shape onto the black construction paper.

2) Cut out the bat shape from the construction paper.

3) Cut two horizontal slits like this = in the middle of the bat, just large enough to thread the pencil

through.

4) Use the glue stick to attach two red sequins as eyes.

5) Thread the pencil top through the slits in the construction paper bat.

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