BEYE Discovery: Bats and Echolocation Game & Bat Dioramas

Post Contributed by Ally Bernstein, Assistant Teacher

This past Friday, to finish up our week of activities based upon flying creatures with extraordinary abilities, we focused on the one-and-only flying mammal, the bat! Now that fall is upon us and Halloween draws near, this mysterious creature surely occupies our thoughts. Beye Discovery began the lesson by playing a game of Bat-Moth, a game similar to Marco Polo that demonstrates the utility of echolocation. A blindfolded student is the bat, and calls out “Bat!” to which the moth replies “Moth!” The rest of the students serve as the "trees", circling around the game of tag to create a barrier. When the bat catches the moth, both players switch. After many exciting rounds, we returned to the classroom for a bat-inspired project.

Anika with bat cave and moth

Inside, Beye Discovery students created pop-up bat dioramas, featuring bats, their environments, and their food sources. Recycled boxes were painted with dark blues, purple or black to create an appropriate nighttime setting. Students created springy pop-ups by folding strips of paper and attaching them inside the dioramas. Some students even used paper fasteners to make spinning bats and moths!

Joey's bat cave with stick trees & moth

There are two types of bats, megabats and microbats. Only microbats use echolocation - megabats, also known as fruit bats, favor a strong sense of smell to find fruit and nectar. The diversity of bats was truly reflected in the class’ dioramas! Some students used sticks and bark as "trees" as well as rocks for their bat caves, creating a realistic and spooky touch : ) Well done students!