Bats: We've gone Batty! - A Thematic Plan

Class Level: Year Two and Three.(6 and &7 years)

Achievement Objectives:
To gain an understanding of the special characteristics of New Zealand Bats.
To learn about bats found in other countries.
To develop an appreciation for living creatures.

Specific learning outcomes:
The children will:

Identify the characteristics of both the New Zealand Long and Short Tailed Bat.
Identify the foods bats eat.
Be able to draw and label the parts of a bat.
Be able to discuss the bats natural habitat.

Technology:

The children will use computers at home and at school to research the topic.
The whole class will be involved in the production of work for the Stellaluna
project.

Use Storybook Weaver for publishing stories about the Bats adventure. (See "English')

Use Kid Pix to produce a slide show presenting information about Bats.

Focus Activities:

Before and After drawings.
Ask the children to draw a picture of a bat prior to any discussion about them. At the end of the study ask the children to draw another picture of a bat. What have we learned?

The teacher will draw out the children's ideas about bats and list them on a chart for reference at the end of the study. Evaluate: What was our prior knowledge? What do we know now?

List the things we want to learn about bats.

Learning Experiences:

Read and Discuss : Short Tailed Bat - Jenny Jones 1994 WWF - New Zealand

Use: "Bat Links" for computer research.

Visual: Series of photographs from the Telecom bat pack displayed and discussed.

Curriculum Integration:

English:
Write a "I Do Not Understand" poem.
List three things you don't understand about bats.
(They could be serious or silly.)
Write "Bats"
End with something you DO understand about Bats.

Model

I do not understand
Why bats hang upside down all day
Why people are afraid of them
Why they enjoy eating insects.
Bats
Unusual little fly by nights.

Make charts showing Foods Bats Eat or Facts About Bats. (Children may have ideas of their own.) Use Coloured paper background.Paste on small felt pen illustrations. Use a computer to write information.

What are five things a soon to be born bat needs to know? Make a small book about these facts to read to the bat as soon as it is born.

An adventurous bat decides to fly during the day time. What three things does he fear most? Write about it.

Write Bat acrostic poems.

Art and Craft:

What does a bat dream about? Paint a picture of his / her dream.

Make a diorama of a bats home in a small box.

Crayon scratch pictures of night flying bats. Cover a small piece of cartridge paper with bright greasy crayon. Cover entrely with black greasy crayon. Use a dull pointed object to scrape the picture. (It's a messy one! - scraped off greasy crayon is no fun on carpet.)

Mapping:

On a map of New Zealand mark in the locations you would expect to find Bats.

Poems:

Bats
Bats are beautiful
As black as the night
Swift as air itself
And none around in light.

Carissa Hill

To The Bat

Bat, bat, come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice of bacon;
And when I bake, I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.

Anonymous

References

The Bat - Ormiston Walker - Macmillan Education - Australia.

The Fascinating World of Bats - Maria Angels Julivert - Barron's.

Where Animals Live - The World of Bats - Virginia Harrison - Gareth Stevens Publishing - Milwaukee.

Bat - Caroline Arnold - Morrow Junior Books - New York.

Amazing Bats - Frank Greenaway - Alfre A Knopf - New York.

Bat Pack - Discovering New Zealand's Native Bats. - Jenny Jones. (WWF. Telecom)

Stellaluna - Janell Cannon