Sleep All Day, Stay Out All Night. No Wonder Kids Love Bats!
About Bats
Read Keep Texas Wild's Hanging Around with Bats. Can you tell the difference between a myth and the truth about bats?
- Kids' Cave Bats Conservation International (video, quiz, bat mask, etc.)
- Amazing Bats of Bracken Cave, National Geographic Kids
- Mexican Free-tailed bats, National Geographic video
- National Geographic's Wild Detectives "Caught on Camera" See a Night Vision camera in action including bats flying in a dark cave!
- Be the Creature: Bats - Kratt Brothers show for National Geographic Wild: Amazing, hour-long show about the bats inside Texas Bracken Cave. http://www.joost.com/032004t/t/Be-the-Creature-Bats#id=032004t
"Francisca Free-tail, Frankie for short, squeezed her way through
hundreds of thousands of winged hands and clawed feet feeling her way along
the wall of the cave. Calling out her own special call, she listened for
her mother's answer. She sniffed the air hoping to detect the sweet aroma
of her mother's milk, but smelled only the musky odor of her fellow pups."
So begins the story of Frankie, the Free-tailed Bat. Download this book
and discover the world of bats through Frankie's eyes! English
(PDF 1.6 MB) and
Spanish
(PDF 1.8 MB)
Echolocation
- How Bats Echolocate, National Science Foundation video (pretty grown up interview, but be patient. Great pictures of how echolocation works!)
- Seeing with Sound! CBS news video. Learn about 14 year-old Ben Underwood, blind since a toddler, who has learned to "see" using his own version of echolocation!
- Science in action – see how researchers tested Ben's skill on this YouTube video.
How Bats Fly
- How to Fly Like a Bat: Science News for Kids
- Bat flying in a wind tunnel: Scientists study how bat wings work. It's not like a bird!
Go Batty!
- Make an origami bat: http://art-smart.ci.manchester.ct.us/easy-bat/easy-bat.html
- Read Stellaluna and then try this: http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/chavez/batquest/batquest.html
Keeping It Wild
- Bat Habitat Hunt
- Now that you know what kinds of things bats need in their homes, go outside and find three places where bats could roost near your home or school. What is good about those habitats? What is bad about them? Many species of bats are now rare because humans have destroyed their habitat. How can people help bats?
- Build a Bat House!
- You'll need help from an adult: www.batcon.org/bhra/economyhouse.html