Project EduBat Activities and Curriculum

QUICK AND FUN ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES

NEW - Go to Bat for Bats!
This is the ultimate trivia game because it is all about bats! As the batter, you will be "pitched" a trivia question which is read by the opposing team. Will you answer correctly and make it around all the bases scoring a home run for your team? Or, will you answer incorrectly ending your team's turn at the plate? Who cares? You'll have a blast and expand your knowledge of the coolest mammals in the world - bats! CLICK HERE to download everything you need to lead your team to victory.

NEW - Bats and Trees Infographic and Coloring Page
Bats are amazing animals that help keep our forests and farms healthy by eating insects. We can help them by providing habitat and safe places to live. CLICK HERE to download a fun page of infographics that shows how bats are connected to trees or CLICK HERE for the same information as a coloring page. Who doesn't want to color?

NEW - Bat Sugar Skulls
Explore the facial features of four fascinating bat species found in Mexico and learn why they all look so different. CLICK HERE to download the educator's guide that includes all four sugar skull masks (Vampire bat, Mexican Long-Tongued bat, Ghost-faced bat, and the California Leaf-nosed bat). Sugar skulls are a staple of the "Day of the Dead" celebration that occurs right after BatWeek on November 1st and 2nd. You can make one of these masks any time of the year, just be sure to use a lot of bright colors!

Decorative Bat Lantern
Everyone loves a good craft and this one is focused on bats! Our EduBat Lantern captures the amazing diversity of habitats used by bats and explores how people and bats interact. CLICK HERE for our template and instructions on how to create your bat lantern. We have even included a guide to turn this fun activity into an educational one. This super easy project will result in a magnificent keepsake!

Bat Masks
Explore the facial features of five fascinating bat species found in the United States and learn why they all look so different.  CLICK HERE to download an educator’s guide to turn this fun activity into an educational one.  CLICK HERE to download the spotted bat and Townsend’s big-eared bat masks (print on 11 X 17 cardstock).  CLICK HERE to download the Florida bonneted, hoary, and lesser long-nosed bat masks (print on 8.5 X 11 cardstock).  This may be our best activity yet!

Bat Brigade Graphic Novels
Bat Brigade Graphic novels are more than just cool. They are a great way to engage kids in reading. They are faced paced, require the reader to actively engage with the text and the images to gain a full understanding of the story, and they can be read over and over again. The Bat Brigade is the fascinating story of three superheroes fighting to protect bats and the places they live. They teach the reader how they can take action to help our bats. CLICK HERE to download a version of our graphic novel that is perfect for daily use or CLICK HERE for a high resolution file that could be used for high quality printing.

Bat Hat
CLICK HERE for a template to make your very own bat hat.  The hat is arguably the most influential accessory in a well-dressed person’s arsenal.  Now is the time to introduce bats into your fashion wardrobe.  Your bat hat should be worn with confidence. Make the hat your own. Don’t be timid!  Great for people of all ages.

Big-eared Bat Finger Puppet
CLICK HERE for for a Big-eared bat finger puppet. Finger puppets are a childhood favorite. They transform children into storytellers, as well as offer a fun and educational craft project. We invite you to use our finger puppet as a way to allow kids to explore the wonders of a bat! 

Flap Your Wings for Bats
CLICK HERE for the instructions to make your very own flying bat with moving wings!  Bats are the only mammals that truly fly and you’ll love showing off your newly created bat.  When you have completed this project, you can flap your wings to show your support for these amazing fliers!  CLICK HERE to download just the template.

SuperHeroes!
Bats have many superpowers such as powered flight, echolocation, supernatural hearing, super animal agility, and more!  Learn more about our small but mighty superheroes of the night skies with these amazing comic style activities.  CLICK HERE for a cool comic poster about our amazing bats.  CLICK HERE for the same information in a coloring page or CLICK HERE for a logic puzzle about bats and their insect prey engaging in an evolutionary arms race!

I Love Bats Tattoo and Sticker
Children love to be rewarded for their achievements.  And, what could be more rewarding than an awesome ‘I Love Bats’ sticker or temporary tattoo?  We invite you to print out our design in any size, but we find that 1” by 1.5” is a great size for small hands. CLICK HERE for the sticker or CLICK HERE for the tattoo.

Connect-the-Dots Activity Sheet
CLICK HERE for a Connect-the-Dots activity sheet featuring a little brown bat peeking out of its summer home in a standing dead tree.  You can complete the image (and practice counting numbers) by connecting the dots from 1 to 60.  When you have completed the image, discuss what habitat components are visible in the completed picture.

Flying Flat Bat
 CLICK HERE for a quick and easy paper craft to turn your ceiling or wall from drab into fab!  Our flat bat will look amazing flying or swarming across any room.  All you have to do is print, cut, bend, glue, and add string.  If you need some help, please find our directions HERE.

Fun at Your Fingertips Game
CLICK HERE for an easy-to-construct game that can be taken anywhere.  Challenge your friends and family to answer important questions about bats and see how well they can do.  Correct answers are available for anyone who struggles.  With this fun game, you can teach people about bats in the classroom, hallway, park, bus ride, well, anywhere!

Little Brown Bat Cutout
CLICK HERE for a little brown bat cutout.  The little brown bat is found throughout much of the United States and Canada.  This once common species is threatened by a new disease, White-Nose Syndrome.  This little bat has earned the nickname, “best bug killer in the world,” because it can catch so many insects.  Learn more about this bat while completing this fun activity.  The final bat can be hung on walls or from the ceiling!

Virginia Big-Eared Bat Cutout
CLICK HERE for a Virginia big-eared bat cutout.  Learn some interesting facts about this federally endangered species while you complete a fun craft project.  The final bat can be hung on walls or from the ceiling!


ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

NEW - Echo, Echo, Echolocation
CLICK HERE for a fun and easy activity that allows students to simulate how bats use sound to navigate and to find food. Explore predator/prey relationships through a game of tag while also learning about the concept of echolocation.

Caves and Bats Rock!
CLICK HERE for an 18-page booklet from Project EduBat that includes activities and coloring pages for elementary students. 

How Do I Compare to a Bat?
CLICK HERE for West Coast species
CLICK HERE for East Coast species
Children can learn a great deal about bats and themselves by comparing various aspects of their anatomy, physiology, and behavior. In this activity, children take their own measurements and compare them to those of two bat species found in the Western United States, canyon bat and big brown bat.

Little Brown Bat – What’s Your Habitat?
CLICK HERE for an awesome lesson about the habitat needs of animals.  Students will read and/or listen to a story about a boy and a little brown bat.  Students will identify what little brown bats need to survive (food, water, shelter, and space) and describe/draw a picture of each of the components of the bat’s habitat. They will also describe characters in the story and answer questions to demonstrate their understanding.
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of Billy the Boy
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of Billy the Little Brown Bat
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of Beatrice, the pregnant Little Brown Bat
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of Eddie the Earthworm
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of the Tree Swallow Family
CLICK HERE for a large illustration of the Priscilla the Newborn Bat Pup


MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Calculate the Value of Bats -- New Update with Real-World Data
 CLICK HERE for pdf file
 There are many reasons for students to care about bats. They are fascinating and beautiful animals. In this activity, students will use math skills to learn about the ecological and economic impacts of bats. Students will also use communication skills to convey the importance of bats to our economy and natural world and the potential effects of White-Nose Syndrome.

Neighborhood Bats – Predicting Species Occurrence
CLICK HERE for an activity where students use range maps, habitat types, and other biological requirements to predict which common bat species may live in their area.
CLICK HERE for a PowerPoint Presentation that you can use to help students describe the major habitat types identified in the Neighborhood Bats activity.


HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND ADULTS (with a variation for younger students)

NEW - Land Use Journey - Plan for Bats!
CLICK HERE for a fantastic activity that allows students to research how three different types of land use (wind energy development, high-density development, and undeveloped forest managed with prescribed burning) affect the survival of three different bat species. They will use this research to estimate the potential effects to the bats while completing a simplified simulation. At the end of the simulation students will have the opportunity to create their own land use map.

The Bat Squad
CLICK HERE for an amazing activity where students will explore the value of bats in our environment, their habitat needs, and the threats that they face in the wild.  After discovering the effects of these threats on bat populations, students will have the opportunity to take personal action to aid bat survival. Students will explore service learning activities that they can take in their backyards and communities to help bats, commit to participating in bat conservation projects, and challenge other students, schools, and organizations to do the same.

Additional Bat Squad Resources

Meet the Bat Squad Profiles - You might review these profiles to select a student that is located in or near your state or a project that a student has completed that you think will resonate with your students.
CLICK HERE  to learn about Calvin, a ten year old studying White-Nose Syndrome in Texas
CLICK HERE to learn about Eowyn, an eleven year old working to protect bat habitats in Texas.
CLICK HERE to learn about Camryn, a fourteen year old in Oregon conducting research on wind energy and bats.

Draft Press Release - Share your Bat Squad projects with the community by connecting with local media. CLICK HERE for a draft press release that you can modify for your use.  Be sure to update the document to include your local information. 

Membership Tools - Urge your students to become official members of the “Bat Squad” when they have completed their projects.  They will receive a Bat Squad membership patch and certificate when their projects are reviewed and approved by our staff.  Directions for submitting information can be found on page four of “The Bat Squad” activity.
CLICK HERE for a copy of the required Photo Release Form
CLICK HERE for a copy of the required Teacher’s Certification of Completion

Fundraising/Event Planning Resources – Coming Soon!!

Heroes of the Night Sky
CLICK HERE for a lesson in which students gather information on various organizations dedicated to bat conservation based upon their own interests; explore the purposes of these organizations; research their successes; and design their own bat conservation organization. This will require students to work collaboratively to develop goals, a mission statement, logo, and strategy for achieving success for their newly created organization. This activity focuses on language arts.

Working the Night Shift – Biometric Clues
CLICK HERE for West Coast species
CLICK HERE for East Coast species
Students will learn and perform data collection techniques used in the field by bat biologists.  They will measure and weigh “bat models,” record data, and determine bat identification by using data collected, clue cards, and a dichotomous key. Students will also learn about White-Nose Syndrome and other threats to bats.

Large Clue Cards – Working the Night Shift
CLICK HERE for West Coast Bat Species Clue Cards to be used with Working the Night Shift – Biometric Clues
CLICK HERE for East Coast Bat Species Clue Cards to be used with Working the Night Shift – Biometric Clues

Biologists Work the Night Shift Researching Bats
CLICK HERE for a PowerPoint Presentation to use with Working the Night Shift – Biometric Clues
How do you think bat biologists can determine a bat’s species? If you were going to collect data on a bat, what information would you need to help you determine a bat’s species? What data would you collect? How would you collect the data?  Where would you go to collect your data?  A river?  A forest?  Your backyard?

Last Bat Standing – Protecting Threatened and Endangered Species
CLICK HERE for lesson. Students will explore changes in the environment that can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the health and survival of wildlife populations. Students will begin the lesson by working through an already-developed simulation of the decline of the northern long-eared bat due to a single, isolated factor (White-Nose Syndrome). Students will then research a different threatened or endangered bat species (preferably from their local area) that is of conservation concern.  After completing their research, they will design a more accurate, complex model that considers the role of multiple factors, focusing on their selected bat species.

There’s a Fungus Among Us!
CLICK HERE for an activity in which students investigate how infectious diseases are spread, focusing on the disease White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), and the scientific methods used to investigate diseases. Students will simulate the interactions of bats in a cave when bats are in close proximity and may spread WNS fungal spores.  At the beginning of this activity, only one student will be infected with WNS.  By coming into physical contact with other “bats,” students will have the chance to test to see if they have been infected with WNS and observe how quickly the disease can spread.  Students will also interpret graphs to learn about doubling effects, exponential equations, and population growth curves.

Making a Bat Model
CLICK HERE for instructions
 If you do not have access to one of the Project EduBat trunks, you may want to make your own bat models for the activity, “Working the Night Shift – Biometric Clues.” These bat models are easy and fun to make.  Students will love working with these bats.

Making a Bat Wingspans
Wingspans are a great way to show the diversity that abounds in the bat world.  They can be used individually or sewn together on the largest wingspan – the large flying fox.  While most of the bats we have in the United States are small bats, flying foxes achieve a large size.  There are more than 1,300 species of bats and their wingspans vary from about seven inches to nearly six feet.  These wingspans can be used alone as an educational tool or with the following EduBat activities: Heroes of the Night Sky, How Do I Compare to a Bat, or Working the Night Shift.
CLICK HERE for instructions           
CLICK HERE for flying fox   
CLICK HERE for bumblebee bat 
CLICK HERE for big brown and northern long-eared          
CLICK HERE for greater bulldog        
CLICK HERE for hoary     
CLICK HERE for Mexican free-tailed