Bats
The students will learn that bats are nocturnal and use echolocation.
A lesson plan for grade K English Language Arts and Science
Learn more
- Bat Conservation International information about conservation, with sections for kids
- Bats why we should care about bats
Related pages
- Green Wilma is missing!: This lesson is designed to be used after students have been exposed to animal classification, especially the characteristics of amphibians. Reading Green Wilma by Arnold Lobel and inviting students to respond through art and written expression is a good use of integration.
- Animals undercover: Students will learn about the different animal coverings using the inquiry method. They will learn about how the covering is used for protection and to control body temperatures.
- Termites, ink pens and pheromones: Students will investigate the behavior of termites to understand and use the scientific method.
Related topics
- Learn more about biology and life science and science.
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Learning outcomes
Students will identify the use of echolocation by bats. They will also be able to explain that bats are nocturnal.
Teacher planning
Time required for lesson
7 days
Materials/resources
- field trip to Pisgah National Forest
- Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon
- Bats by Gail Gibbons
- chart tablet
- sign up sheets for projects
- materials for the various projects for which students sign up for
- bat snack
- books about bats for the library in your class
Technology resources
- computer with internet access
Pre-activities
Day One: students will chart, with the teacher, “What We Know about Bats.”
Activities
Day Two:
- The class will chart “what we want to know about bats.” The teacher will chart each of the students’ answers.
- Then the teacher will read “Stellaluna” by Cannon. The class will discuss the similarities and differences between bats and birds.
Day Three, Four, and Five:
- Read Bats by Gail Gibbons.
- Answer the many questions asked by the students the previous day on the chart entitled “what we want to know about bats.”
- The students will each sign up for a project that they will do during center activities throughout the week. The possible projects are as follows:
- painting
- model
- book
- mural
- diorama
- chart
- letter
- poster
- drawing
- sewing
- The students will have to label or write something about bats at the completion for their project. All projects have to have writing in them.
- During center time, the computer center will be open with the web pages open for the students to view.
Day Six:
- Each student or group of students will share their projects with the entire class.
Day Seven:
- Review the two charts and make additions.
- Field trip to the Pisgah Wildlife Center in the Pisgah National Forest to see bats and their habitats. During the field trip, the students will have a snack of mangoes, dates, sunflower seeds, and figs. These are foods that bats also eat.
Assessment
During the project writing, the teacher will be able to evaluate the students’ knowledge of bats.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Kindergarten
- Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies to read and write.
- Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
- demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds.
- demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in the spoken word.
- demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).
- Objective 1.03: Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills:
- recognize and name upper and lower case letters of the alphabet.
- recognize some words by sight including a few common words, own name, and environmental print such as signs, labels, and trademarks.
- recognize most beginning consonant letter-sound associations in one-syllable words.
- Objective 1.04: Read or begin to read.
- Read or attempt to read own dictated story.
- Attempt to read/reads simple patterned text, decodable text, and/or predictable texts using letter-sound knowledge and pictures to construct meaning.
- Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of types of books and selections (e.g., picture books, caption books, short informational texts, nursery rhymes, word plays/finger plays, puppet plays, reenactments of familiar stories).
Science (2005)
Kindergarten
- Goal 1: The learner will make observations and build an understanding of similarities and differences in animals.
- Objective 1.01: Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including:
- Structure.
- Growth.
- Changes.
- Movement.
- Objective 1.05: Observe the similarities of humans to other animals including:
- Basic needs.
- Growth and change.
- Movement.
- Objective 1.01: Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including:
