Giovanna DiPasquale, Taylor Johnston
Subject: Science
Topic: Microbats and Echolocation
Grade Level: 1st
Standards: Science SOL 1.5 - The student will investigate and understand that animals,
including humans, have basic needs and certain distinguishing characteristics. Key concepts
include:
a) basic needs include adequate air, food, water, shelter, and space (habitat)
b) animals, including humans, have many different physical characteristics; and
c) animals can be classified according to a variety of characteristics.
Daily Question: How do microbats use echolocation to find food?
Engagement
Procedures for Learning Experience
1. Bring the students to the carpet. Ask the students to name foods that they like to eat.
Point out that no one mentioned bugs.
2. Explain that if you were a microbat, you would love to eat bugs. Explain that bats are
nocturnal animals, which means they only come out at night when it is dark.
3. Ask the students to show you the size of a bug with their fingers. Point out that most bugs
are really small. Ask the students how they could find a tiny bug to eat if they were
nocturnal and only came out when it is dark outside. Ask the students to think about this
question as the class reads Nightsong aloud.
4. Read Nightsong aloud. Point out the “special sense” or “song” the bat uses to hunt.
Guiding Questions
1. How could you find a bug if it is dark and you could not see?
Materials Needed
1. Nightsong by Ari Berk
Evaluation
1. Formative - Do students already know how bats find their food?
Approximate Time Required
10 minutes
Exploration
Procedures for Learning Experience
1. Distribute the plastic bats. Allow students to “play” with the bats for 2 minutes.
2.
Ask the students to look at their bats and describe one part of the bat that could help it to
catch food. Make sure that the bat’s wings and ears are discussed.
Guiding Questions
1. What parts of the bat can help it to catch food?
Materials Needed
1. Plastic bats (20)
Evaluation
1. Formative - Identification of characteristics that help the bat to catch food
Approximate Time Required
5 minutes
Explanation
Procedures for Learning Experience
1. Explain to the students that bats are nocturnal and only come out when it is dark. This
means they cannot see the tiny bugs they like to eat.
2. Ask the students how the bat in Nightsong found his food (students should reply with
“special sound”). Explain that another name for the “special sound” is echolocation.
Write “echolocation” on the whiteboard. Explain that echolocation means that bats make
a sound, which bounces off objects and back into the bat’s ears (echo). The sound is
different depending on what object it hit and where the object is (location).
3. Recall from earlier discussion that bats have large ears. Show the students the pictures on
page 10 of Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. Explain that because their ears are so big,
bats can hear very well. When it is dark and they cannot see, bats use echolocation to find
bugs. Show the students the picture on page 16 of Bats.
4. Explain that bats are expert fliers who have large wings but no feathers like birds.
Instead, the wings are like webbed hands (and can be moved like hands) so that bats can
change direction very quickly. This helps them chase tiny, super fast bugs. Show the
students the pictures on page 16 of Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats.
Guiding Questions
1. How did the bat in Nightsong find his food?
Materials Needed
1. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle
2. Bats by Celia Bland
Evaluation
1.
Formative - Student recall of how the bat in Nightsong found food.
Approximate Time Required
10 minutes
Extension
Procedures for Learning Experience
1. Explain to the students that we will now practice being bats.
2. Model the echolocation game. One teacher is the bat and the other teacher is the bug. The
bat makes a squeaking sound. The bug must make the sound back. The bat will tag the
bug when it thinks it is close. Explain that all students will have the chance to be both the
bat and the bug.
3. Divide students into 2 groups (bats and bugs) and take students outside. Ask the “bats” to
close their eyes to simulate darkness.
4. Allow time for students to switch groups so that they participate as both bats and bugs.
5. Bring the students back inside to listen to the Echolocation Song
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-Y2Tt8gFE).
Guiding Questions
1. How did you (the bat) know where the bug was?
Materials Needed
1. YouTube Video: Echolocation Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-Y2Tt8gFE)
Evaluation
1. Summative - Echolocation Game demonstrating understanding of echolocation as a bat’s
hunting mechanism
Approximate Time Required
15 minutes
Notes
Lesson Context
This lesson will be taught as part of a nocturnal animals unit.
Safety Notes
Teachers should monitor the Echolocation Game to ensure that students avoid wooded areas
surrounding the playing field.
Differentiation
Differentiation is built into the activation of prior knowledge during the Engagement and
Exploration phases of the lesson.
Sources
Berk, A. (2012). Nightsong. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Bland, C. (2000). Bats. New York, NY: Kidsbook, Inc.
Cole, H. (1995). Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Maestro, B. (1994). Bats: Night Fliers. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Microbats and Echolocation Lesson Rubric/Observation Checklist
Behavior
Respectful of others
Contributed to
discussions
Stayed on-task
Participated in the
Echolocation Game
according to teacher
directions
Always
Sometimes
Never