Halloween Lesson Plan on Bats
Teach Students About Flying Mammals, Bat Trivia and Stories
Sep 28, 2009
Young students will truly enjoy a Halloween lesson plan on bats. Teachers can also include bat trivia and bat activities into the spooky Halloween curriculum. In this article, teachers will learn about bat facts, and discover some great children’s storybooks on bats that can be incorporated into a fun and educational Halloween lesson plan.
Halloween Bat Trivia
Here are a few interesting facts about bats, the only mammal on Earth that is able to fly:
- Types of bats. There are two classification of bats: microchiroptera (small hand wing, vampire bats are in this category) and macrochiroptera (large hand wing, commonly known as fruit bats).[1]
- Largest bat species. Some fruit bat species’ wingspans can grow to six feet long.[1]
- Smallest bat species. The smallest bat is the bumblebee bat, which is only one inch long.[2]
- Vampire bat facts. These creepy bats live in Mexico and South America. They feed on cattle, birds, and other mammals.[1]
- What bats eat. Fruit bats will eat nectar and provide pollination to many trees and plants. They also may eat seeds and whole fruit. However, the majority of bats in the microchiroptera classification eat insects, small fish, reptiles, and amphibians.[1]
- How bats sleep. Bats sleep during the day and are active at night (nocturnal). They usually sleep in protected areas such as caves. They will curl their wings in and hang upside down by their feet while sleeping.[2]
- Bat habitat and and life span. There are species of bats that live in nearly every corner of the world except in polar regions. Insect eating bats can live up to 40 years old because food is plentiful.[2]
- How bats help the Earth. Fruit bats pollinate trees and plants and spread seeds via their droppings. Carnivorous bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes every hour. [2] Bat droppings (guano) are also a huge resource for organic farming fertilizer.
Three Great Bat Books for Halloween
Children will enjoy the following great Halloween bat tales during story times this Halloween:
- Five Little Bats Flying in the Night by Steve Metzger. [NY: Scholastic, Inc., 2004]. A great counting story appropriate for preschool, this picture book is based on the more familiar five little monkeys story. Rhythmic and bouncy, this bat story will also provide a bit of bat trivia along the way.
- Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt. [NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1996]. Rhyming prose full of funny bat illustrations, Bat Jamboree will delight preschoolers and elementary kids as well. Also, this picture book has some great mathematic elements including multiplication and the simple pyramid geometry.
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (see above). A classic and touching story about a small fruit bat named Stellaluna who is adopted by a family of birds, this picture book with incredible artwork is great for kids of all ages and was featured in an episode of the acclaimed PBS series Reading Rainbow.
Bats are magnificent flying mammals and deserve a spotlight during the Halloween season. Teach students bat trivia, and read some great bat books in the preschool or elementary classroom and create a memorable Halloween lesson plan on bats this autumn.
Bat Trivia Sources:
- Cannon, Janell, Stellaluna. NY: Harcourt, Inc., 1993.
- Defenders of Wildlife
For more spooky ideas and activities, check out Spooky Halloween Math Games or Pumpkin Seed Math Race. Read Great Halloween Books for Preschoolers for further recommended story time reading.
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